Hiromi Asai debuts first menswear collection

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Jan 29, 2017

Japanese fashion designer Hiromi Asai has expanded her new line into menswear. The new designer debuted her menswear collection, Blue, in New York City after a promising showing at Pitti Uomo 91.

 
Asai, who is based in New York City, produces all of her garments with Japanese high-end Kimono textiles. She first developed a women’s fashion collection made by Kimono textiles, which debuted at NYFW in 2016. The new men’s collection is comprised of tailored garments and bomber jackets crafted in silk, wool, Washi paper and gold and silver threading.
 
Asai said, "Though many female designers have not focused on a men's collection, I decided to use kimono textiles for a men's collection and try to integrate the textiles with exquisite quality into sophisticated men's fashion."

The Kimono is a Japanese garment that has a long history in Japan which dates over 1,000 years. Many designers have been inspired by the Kimono style and have included a garment similar in design in their own collections. Unfortunately, due to ageing craftsman and the lack of successors, Kimono creation is in a crisis. Asai aims to reverse this with her new line.
 
“I always hope to reverse the declining trend of kimono industry in Japan and bring the collection made by Kimono textiles to its rightful forefront in fashion,” she said.
 
Standout pieces from the menswear collection include electric blue silk coats with hand-dyed Kyo-Yuzen lining that feature illustrations of the Fuujin Wind God and the Raijin Thunder God and silk bomber jackets featuring images of twin dragons and a snake that were embroidered by the Nuitori lacing system.
 
Other special production techniques used in the line include the Nishijin-ori brocade technique that was created in Kyoto over 1,200 years ago and the Bokashi-zome dyeing technique. Nishijin-ori is the weaving of many different types of coloured yarns, and the Bokashi-zome technique is a graduation created by spreading dyes.
 
"I am excited to show Hiromi Asai men's collection in New York,” said Asai. “This is the first challenge to entirely feature kimono textiles for men's collection."