Layer Up With DAIWA PIER39
Autumn/Winter 2022
I love design informed by function. Whether we are talking about sportswear, workwear, performance wear, uniforms, or military wear, it is the very genesis of modern menswear to me. So I am always drawn to any designer who is able to take traditional menswear motifs and produce something that feels fresh and relevant. It sounds simple in theory, after all menswear has a rich history to reference, but as always, the devil is in the details.
One brand which I think absolutely smashes it out of the park is DAIWA PIER39, which was launched in 2020 by fishing label DAIWA, as their more fashion-forward line. The brand is headed by Nakada Shinsuke, a former director at BEAMS Plus, and it is thus perhaps unsurprising to see heritage style mixed so beautifully with performance fabrics and functional design.
Regular readers will already know of my love for relaxed silhouettes and oversized pieces, so needless to say, I was hooked from first glance. As much as the collection is based around function, both in design and fabrication, with the use of GORE-TEX, Cordura and other performance textiles, the aesthetic of the brand is far more classic and traditional than the majority of tech- and performance-based labels out there.
Indeed, while other performance brands do produce fashion-forward lines, something like Arc’teryx’s System_A or Veilance labels come to mind, they usually tend to be more contemporary in their design language. On the other hand I suppose you have a brand such as Nike ACG, which has moved away from the contemporary tech aesthetic that it had under the directorship of Errolson Hugh (of Acronym fame), and doubled down on a far more colourful retro late 80s and early 90s aesthetic. You can see a similar move with The North Face’s Japan-exclusive Purple Label.
With DAIWA PIER39 I get a sense of comforting nostalgia with a 90s outdoors aesthetic made current. To think of the 90s as retro is wild to me, but then I suppose it is the joy of getting older. Thankfully the collection veers away from the more colourful side of that retro nostalgia, and is more muted and classic in its styling. Nostalgia is always tricky in fashion, regardless of whether we think of time in fashion as cyclical or not, because you do not want the clothes to feel dated or simply transplanted from the past. But something about these clothes feels so easy to wear and incorporate into your wardrobe that I would be surprised if most people could not find something for themselves.
It will sound absolutely random, but seeing sweats styled with desert boots made me smile. I do love nostalgia.
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