Tatsuya Tamada was one of the most anticipated shows in Tokyo this season. He closed the week with a debut that showed off his military-inspired tailoring, held in a dark hall with two tiers of steel scaffolding for seating.
Before we get into the clothes, some background. A former pattern cutter at Sacai, Tamada learned his craft under Chitose Abe, before founding Tamme in 2021. Like Sacai, Tamme’s influences come largely from military wear, and also like Sacai he takes a hybrid approach to design, often taking two distinct ideas and mashing them together. It’s inevitable, at least in the early stages of his brand, that Tamada will be perceived in the shadow of his former employer, so tonight was his first big opportunity to establish his own identity. Did he manage it?
When the first look emerged on the runway—a navy double-breasted suit with a ribbon of fabric that belted it to one side—it was almost a relief how good it looked. As the looks continued—a white dress shirt with panels and pockets, a trench coat zipped off at the hips, and plenty of sharply cut cargo pants—it became clear that this would not be the tentative debut of a fledgling designer trying to break out of his shell, but something confident and fully formed.
A key strength of the collection was that it looked great from every angle. Jackets had belts at the small of the back that gathered the fabric into a pyramid shape, or had zips or ties added on the sides that could be used to adjust the silhouettes of each piece. The colors were well done too, unfolding in an accessible palette of black and navy enlivened with a few punchy additions of pink, burnt orange, white, and beige. The loose neckties, a Tamme signature, were clipped around the neck or trailed at the waists of outerwear, adding a sprinkling of Avril Lavigne-y grunge to the collection. The military straps that belt across the calves of trousers to give them a flared shape are also a Tamme staple, and he manages to make them look bondage-esque in a very understated and wearable way.
Backstage after the show, the reserved designer was wide-eyed. “The way I do things is completely different depending on the season, but this time I felt that in today’s society, there is both freedom and lack of freedom, stability and instability. I felt that the world is a contradiction, I wanted to bring an attitude of accepting both the positive and negative things,” he said by way of explanation. While exploring that abstract tension, his vision was clear. “I tried to make jackets and formalwear that you wouldn’t mind getting dirty,” he said. Indeed, the raw-hemmed blazers and flared cargo jeans had a real ease to them. Smart but not buttoned-up; beautiful but not precious, the vibe was refreshingly un-corporate. “I simply wanted to incorporate high-quality formal wear into everyday life,” he said. Innovative, wearable and—yes—original, Tamme ticked all the boxes for a promising debut.
