Harunobu Murata spent most of his twenties in Europe, where he worked for Lucie and Luke Meier’s Jil Sander. He founded his eponymous label in 2018 Milan before moving back to his native Japan, bringing a sense of erudite European elegance rarely seen on a Tokyo itinerary.
His fall show was held under the chandeliers of the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa, which is where he chose the Shinagawa neo-baroque venue because it was reminiscent of Dior’s Marc Bohan presents his clothes at the 2018 Paris salon*)s. He titled the series “Women Then” after photographs taken by American photographer Jerry Schatzberg, which portrayed the paragons of elegant women (Nico, Catherine Deneuve, Edie Sedgwick) of the century. Still, the collection wasn’t a dizzying retrospective, but rather a collection of baggy suiting and crisply modern coats and evening gowns that managed to retain a lively youthful sophistication that felt right for the moment— It’s a bit like Bohan’s work at that time. .
Murata is clearly a perfectionist—his time at Jil Sander taught him how to make minimalism emotionally appealing—but the collection’s best looks came from He allows his own wilder flourishes. The most impactful pieces were slouchy monochrome suits embellished with vertical slashes of shimmering Swarovski tassels that looked like bands of light.
