Kenta Orimi knows what makes the kids tick. Inspired by the stylish edge of Tokyo, and a former Harajuku kid himself, the designer is slowly building a community of fans that appreciate his sleekly gothic clothing. Step by step he’s establishing himself as a menswear designer to watch.
This show—his third—started with dandies in clean white tailoring and bowler hats; the lithe models with glue-matted hair slinked across the wood runway to a live improv cello performance, the strings striking a sinister tone.
The white melted away into draped silhouettes of khaki, brown, and the brand’s signature black, punctuated in the middle by a single hot pink polo shirt. “Up until now, the collections were centered around black, but we’ve shifted the use of color,” said the designer backstage. “It’s like a new standard for Orimi.”
The expansion of color lent the collection a freshness, helped along by the addition of materials including wool, cupro, and silk. Then some artfully draped cardigans and cascading skirt-pants—Orimi may be self-taught, but he knows how to cut. Also of note were the herringbone cargo pants. Orimi runs his own store, The Elephant, and has a buyer’s eye for what will work on both the rack and the runway.
“The brand started as a label rooted in the Harajuku community, but now I want to open things up more,” he said. This was reflected in the casting; Orimi has mostly used Asian male models in the past, but this time things were intentionally more diverse. “I want the brand to be more inclusive and open,” he said.
Collaborations included chunky shoes with buckled toe details by Kids Love Ghaite, while the hats were by CA4LA. For Orimi, the partnerships represented a full-circle moment. “These are brands I wore myself growing up,” he said. “It feels like a dream come true.”