Kazuya Yamachika isn’t interested in being told what can’t be done. The designer founded Ancellm in 2020, and has spent the past few years doing things to fabric that are usually recommended against. Shrinking leather, for instance.
“ absolutely get surprised by our requests,” said Yamachika at his Tokyo showroom, which as usual was abuzz with buyers placing orders. With access to some of the world’s best textile factories from its base in Japan’s renowned Kojima region, and a pricing strategy that undercuts its fabric-first competitors, the brand is expanding fast, and is now stocked at around 90 retailers from Vancouver to LA to Shanghai, as well as its new flagship store in Tokyo.
Taking a break from the runway like many Japan-based designers this season, Ancellm shot its lookbook in a glass-walled train station throughout an afternoon, so that the sky deepened from pale blue in the first looks into an indigo dusk. It paralleled the washed-out shading that the brand incorporated into the collection, punctuated by some satisfying splashes of sunset orange, dusty pink knits, and inky denim, alongside shaved leather and some sulfur-dyed tailoring.
“We’ve been aiming for a slightly more refined look since the last collection,” said Yamachika. “While we certainly continue to use special finishes, as we always have, we’re trying not to over-emphasize the processing itself.” And so each piece had undergone some form of tinkering in his laboratory, with more emphasis on drape and silhouette lending the collection a bohemian flavor.
One of the most notable successes was Gobelin (usually a thick and unwieldy jacquard tapestry fabric) that he had softened up by loosening the weave, cutting it into a pair of wide shorts and a belted jacket, complete with pastoral hand-drawn toile de Jouy. “The weave is just tight enough for the pattern to show through,” said Yamachika.