Courtesy of CFCL
Yusuke Takahashi continued to mine the throughline of “clothing for contemporary living” behind the brand’s moniker with a fall collection that was about covering one’s sartorial bases, Monday to Sunday as well as morning to night.
“There are repeating cycles of tension and relaxation in our lives,” he said backstage before a show titled “Cadence.”
Materializing this were stripe effects, lenticular patterns, the contrast between textured and smooth surfaces as well as adding hand-stitched sequins to clothing made “hands-free” using 3D knitting machines.
His recent work on costumes for a production of Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” in Tokyo but also a visit to the “Mode et Sport” exhibition at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris led him to flip the idea of sportswear on its head, with sports such as riding and fencing making his easy looks skew more formal than casual.
This time, trousers, their knit supported by stitches echoing ironed-in creases and darts, were particularly handsome. Other standouts included the cream suit that opened the show, a blouson with mutton sleeves and dresses, always great at CFCL.
As ever, the evolution in his work is more in the materials used in knits than in the silhouettes, with Takahashi pointing out a thick velvet-like knit and the introduction of cashmere and silk yarns.
Despite an experimental string quartet’s jarring soundtrack of wails and huffs — a composition from Serbian composer Hristina Šušak — that had the audience bemused at best, the fall CFCL lineup hit the right note between being leisurewear and the dressier direction many have been leaning toward.
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