Review of Sacai Spring 2024 Men’s Fashion Show
Work, Wear
By Mark Wittmer
One of the coolest and most consistent brands in fashion, Sacai and creative director Chitose Abe delivered another gorgeously made and deeply considered exploration of hybridization and reconstruction, further evincing Abe’s masterful ability to splice design ideas at an almost molecular level.
The collection continues this practice of hybridization, breaking down perceived boundaries between sophisticated tailoring, workwear, and off-duty dressing.
The collection’s first movement synthesizes the hard wearing indigo denim and utilitarian detailing of workwear jackets with pinstripe banker suits – a different type of work wear, in a sense – uniting notions of labor and class distinction into one look.
Abe then makes a similar move and unites elements of the handcrafted and the industrial, executing chunky crochet and knitwear with technical fabrics in gorgeously draped silhouettes. A floral print (which feels like a somewhat out-of-character element for Sacai) reminiscent of the 90s surfwear boom almost feels a bit campy, but takes on a kind of self-aware resort chicness as it is put into conversation with the collection’s confluence of categories.
Last season’s very well-received collaboration with Carhartt WIP makes a return, with Abe going deeper as she crosses the brand’s iconic workwear jackets with chic tailoring silhouettes, unique material selections, and deconstructionist layering.
Gone for now, however, are the frequent show collaborations with Nike, with Abe instead putting some thick-soled twists on classic leather footwear silhouettes, drawing loafers, derbies, combat boots, and more into her world of exaggeratedly considered garment construction.
Sacai’s collections can be difficult to talk and write about because they don’t have the kind of “theme” or “concept” (aside from an inherent reflection of the fractured nature of postmodern life) that many designers like to jump between each season, and the runway shows and characterized by pomp and spectacle. Instead, Sacai is all about the construction of clothing, and Abe’s mastery of design and fabrication has to be seen and felt to be understood.