There’s always something so liberating about the warmer months, shedding big coats, freeing our limbs and feeling the warmth of summer on our skin. In the UK, that luxury is sporadic; winters seem never-ending; spring sees showers, and then, for a moment, the sun steps in, and we feel the collective joy of a jolt of vitamin D.
But as someone who loves to dress up, that liberation pulls against the will to add more, those extra elements that add the edge, the final accent that brings the look together but that might just prove too much under the beating rays. TOGA’s creative director Yasuko Furuta understands this sentiment, noting how, in the UK’s unusually hot weather, we threw off garments in all our Britishness. We embraced our bodies in what seemed like an endless summer (for once), but from a different cultural perspective, Furuta notes how the people of Tokyo react rather differently; despite summer’s humidity, clothing is still layered; and though seemingly impractical, it is still a form of expression, or maybe armour—a protection from the urban surroundings. We cannot know for sure what drives each personal style decision; still, Futura takes this thought and explores it in the SS27 collection entitled “ACCLIMATISATION, ADAPTATION, LIBERATION”: ‘the meeting of extremes, how clothing can exist in both worlds’
This season, TOGA’s SS27 shifts the brand’s design language without losing its codes, moving away from the complex yet accomplished layering to something similar, but lighter. Usually associated with designs that explore adeptly engineered cuts, the brand develops its language further this season with multi-layered pieces that are also modular and translucent, featuring detachable elements that allow aesthetic depth, adaptability, and mobility.
As the body shifts and layers lift, flashes of ornate linings flicker. At the same time, sheer fabrics are overlaid piece by piece to create dimension and texture, or worn beneath more structured pieces; a short, structured skirt sits over sheer trousers. Bodices are layered, lifting and revealing new facets of the garment with movement. In contrast, multilayered floral skirts reveal new folds in their materials with patterns, cascading and flourishing with each step. Sheer materials superimposed over florals and checks pop against silks or collide with other checks; and tailoring gains new depth through distressed tulle.
This multi-textural, modular approach to silhouettes and materials mirrors that idea of extremes meeting, offering a fitting collection for the UK climate, where one must be malleable to constant climatic shifts. The result is a collection that is less dense and complex, more fluid, and more exposed: clothes that are less an exploration of engineering and more one of motion. And that tension between visibility and concealment has been one of the most compelling and joyful aspects of clothes across decades; this time, delivered for an audience that embraces silhouettes unconfined by gender. Clothes adaptable for a changing climate. Which makes TOGA SS27, as always, an absolute favourite amongst the LFW collections, and also one so utterly prescient in its approach.
Credits:
Words by Leigh Maynard
Designer: Yasuko Furuta
Styling: Andrew Sauceda
Invitation: Jop van Bennekom
Sounds Director: Shuhei Abe
Casting: Ben Grimes
Make-up: Thom Walker using ADDICTION
Hair: Claire Grech using Bumble and bumble.
PR: Karla Otto
Production: North Six
Special thanks to SIX London
