The Reracs
Naomi Kurahashi describes her design ethos as adding “modern essence to classic wear.” For spring, she showed a largely unisex collection of pantsuits, tailored coats and relaxed dresses in black, white, beige and deep olive green.
While the pieces she turned out were familiar, Kurahashi still succeeded in making them look refined and far from ordinary.
She paired beautifully cut jackets with tapered trousers and knee-length coats with slim ankle pants. Dresses had asymmetric necklines, puff sleeves and long plackets; or came with high necks and in boxy shapes. Military-inspired jackets earned a second look with their slightly off-kilter pockets, and button-up checked shirts had black bib-like panels and cuffs that provided both contrast and style points.
Kurahashi mixed men’s wear-inspired pieces with traditionally feminine details, putting balloon sleeves on hooded overcoats and necktie-like strips of fabric on mockneck blouses. The designer’s textile expertise and background in patternmaking was apparent in her beautifully draped, softly flowing silhouettes that were often oversize but never looked sloppy or shapeless. —