Julius Men's SS11 Paris

[BSR]

To answer some questions before, all the leathers at the showroom were size 2, and all are made of lamb leather. But the thickness, treatment and feel vary a lot.

[Faust]

These are some great news Faust. I was almost afraid that they start to adjust their sizing to the western market ... and the unisex collection you're talking about sounds really interesting. This is completely new to me. Do you have any further information?

Actually, I did not ask, but I will find out. It was pretty much the greatest hits.

[deleuze]

do you find the actual clothing to lack refinement? if not, I'd just let the designer play around with these quirky references as they don't really have that much to do with the end product.

Maybe refinement wasn't the best word to encompass my thoughts. What I do find the clothes lacking is everything that elevates a designer above a stylist. I don't see 1) any critical dialogue with fashion history, a politics (Margiela, Chalayan, Poell); 2) an overwhelming presence, a sublimity evoking feelings long lost or never known, a religion (Ann, Yohji); 3) a technical precision , a scientist or archaeologist (Junya); 4) a communicator and editor of ideas relating to contemporary issues within the social sphere, both medium and activist (Raf, Hedi? McQueen?) 5) an agent provocateur or confidence man never revealing their true identity, exploring the taboo and challenging conventions without leaving the realm of aesthetics/straying from the goal of beauty, even if it's an ugly beauty, a magician/artist (Rick)

I think Horikawa sees himself picking up where Raf left off but Raf always had this prescient relevance that I find lacking in Horikawa. Raf also knew his limits even if at times he was criticized for exploring topics antithetical to his business and role of designer. Horikawa just comes off as a walking cliche out of 1994. What is Horikawa trying to say? Is is he going to start referring to his stockists as Temporary Autonomous Zones? I don't understand the tapping into youth fantasies either, some of the ideas he references have roots stretching too deep into reality to be clouded as fantasies. Is it just a commercial remembrance/celebration of an age that no longer is, a generation that lost its edge and produced no progeny, a classic form of appropriation? He seems intent in bridging his line with the social realm but does it in a clumsy way through a political agenda that lacks any substance. And I think this conceptual fogginess does indeed penetrate the clothing. The desire to say more than what one is capable of expressing more often than not leads to overdesign and/or a lack of clarity. It opens no horizon onto thought or feeling; it's just clothes with a tagline.

[lowrey]

finally got a chance to edit the video:

[stereophobic]

thanks A, I like the inspired choice of background music, definitely informed by the articles/interview with Horikawa that Scoute has published in the past.

[Nostromo]

OK I totally see your point deleuze, but I think there is very well some philosophy behind his work. In the end it's all about Horikawa trying to express his view of the world as a place full of hostility and, how he once expressed it in an interview, insanity.
He sees his clothing as some sort of protection against the adverse influences surrounding us, made to preserve some inner beauty and peace. In his actual work, this idea is reflected through the contrast between the obvious darkness and roughness (the rugged, distressed outerwear) and the more subtle fragility and vulnerability (the use of soft and sheer materials for tees, longsleeves etc.).
How sophisticated or refined his philosophy is obviously lies in the eye of the beholder, but I personally think it's wrong to degrade him to a simple stylist as you call it.

[magic]

More.

[Nikov]

Haha, nice to see Christian snapping away on the far left. Thanks for the pics and video, guys.

[Heirloom]

that's the music they had at the show. very very very good.

[Nostromo]

Nice Video with pretty good music. Definitely somewhat unexpected at a Julius show, but in this case a pleasant surprise.

And Christian, is this a K-7 you're using?

[Faust]

Deleuze, I understand how you can take this point of view, but I don't think that the clothes have absolutely no substance and are pure styling. I think the references are there to a specific niche of youth culture where Horikawa comes from. This is what he is mining. Maybe his references are narrower than Raf's, but you can't say that there are not there. And the final product is fantastic (of course I realize we are talking about the shows\the image and not the garments themselves).

[dji]

some backstage photos.

[neonrider]

very interesting discussion.

i think that horikawa has articulated at least the beginnings of a philosophy, having read a few interviews. the clothing is situated in a vulnerable relationship to a more fragile and volatile world - one contending with the problematic, inherent personal and organizational contradictions of industrialization - as both protector and comforter. from what i understand, at least :)

now, certainly, some of this might sound juvenile, and you might not find it compelling. but it is there, fwiw.

personally, i find horikawa's positions awkwardly phrased - but interesting. more interesting and nuanced, in some ways, than many designers celebrated as cerebral. they fit the "spirit of the times", given a global economy perpetually poised on the edge of crisis, generating adversity, instead of prosperity. if ever there was clothing made for an age of "austerity", julius surely deserves a spot on the list. just my 2c.

let's also not forget the language issue.

thx again - really enjoyed reading these posts.

[Nostromo]

I think you have made a really interesting point neonrider.
This whole discussion just led me to reread the Horikawa interview on Scoute and it seems to confirm your thesis. He mentions his concept of Neo-Tokyo, inspired from dystopian and post-apocalyptic movies and books and how our world is slowly moving forwards to become a place like Neo-Tokyo.

I can only recommend this interview to everyone who's interested in Julius and who hasn't read it until now. It offers some very interesting views on the label and the man behind it.

[BSR]

showroom review: leathers (part 1)








For this short Julius showroom review, I’d like to thank Marc and Seiya who were so very nice welcoming us on the last day of the showroom in the Paris unbearable heat, and Mikael, who did the model job.

So let’s start with the big guys : the leather jackets.




This time there are, as dji noticed, 5 different shapes. All of them were in size 2, and size 2 for Julius SS11 is definitely a 46. All of them are made of lamb leather. All of them have long sleeves, some have relatively short bodies (the moto and the rider), others have longer bodies as well (the 3 high collars).

The first one is the moto collar...

...then comes the rider which is a lighter version of the FW10 rider jacket.

Open in white

half closed in black

closed in grey

On these two jackets (moto and rider) the leather is thin and very soft. The texture is almost silky-like. They are a very interesting option for summer leather.


Fit pics for these two guys, notice that the moto collar fits tighter.

BTW I heard at the showroom that the moto collar won’t come into production, but I’d like to get confirmation of that.

Stay tuned, more to come…