Mitsuru Nishizaki was the designer hosted by Giorgio Armani at his Armani/Teatro show space this season. It was a big step for Nishizaki, who has been showing Ujoh during Tokyo Fashion Week since spring 2014, and has quickly become an emerging designer to watch. He collected the DHL Designer Award at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Tokyo last year, and was also on the shortlist of the Dubai edition of “Who is on Next?”
Of the designers Armani has offered his show venue to, Nishizaki is one of the more promising. A seven-year veteran of Yohji Yamamoto’s Y collection, Nishizaki is rooted in the traditional Japanese aesthetic of deconstructing classic tailoring through inventive pattern play, though his point of view is far less experimental than Yamamoto.
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Silhouettes were composed of sporty oversized layers — quilted utilitarian jackets, tailored vests, elongated chunky knits, shirts and wide-leg trousers — featuring lacing and strap details and hybrid cuts but projecting a relatively minimalist attitude.
While new and fresh for Milan, the look is not unfamiliar. It shares the layered, utility streetwear spirit of several New York contemporary collections, while controlled hybrid garments indicated that Ujoh might have inherited some Sacai DNA from the Tokyo scene. Still, he exercised a commercial restraint that made the look elegantly digestible.