Spring/Summer24 Collection
Gardening Inspiration Revisited: URBAN NATURE X AVANT GARDE
For Spring/Summer 2024, designer brand ATSURO TAYAMA draws on the concept of “URBAN NATURE” to propose a séance of the brand’s Avant-Garde spirit via textured, masculine-feminine items, as well as the easy-to-wear ART OF GARDEN line that spells street-smart utilitarianism of ATSURO TAYAMA’s Avant-Garde Women.
What lies behind ATSURO TAYAMA’s SS24 collection is a 15-year-old passion for gardening harboured by its eponymous designer, translated first into a 10,000-square-metre private garden in Kumamoto and now into a nature-inspired wardrobe. Mr TAYAMA referenced his idyllic pastime for the seasonal theme “URBAN NATURE”, weaving together two design motifs: workwear and the floral world. In parallel, the ART OF GARDEN line taps into the myriad styling possibilities suggested by “URBAN NATURE” for Avant-Garde Women.
“The SS24 collection draws on my gardening experience, where nature reveals its creative treasure trove in the sky, soil, flowers and trees. As nothing in nature is sleekly smooth to the touch, I have envisioned a textured collection to reflect this observation. Seasonal changes and my experience in cultivation also fuelled my imagination of a ‘transformable’ collection with added mix-and-match flexibility that contributes to the style of the Avant-Garde Women,” said Mr TAYAMA.
Gardening-inspired Elements Drawn from Nature
The new Urban Nature collection for SS24 is a mishmash of natural elements, from floral prints to weaves, and from tactile materials to outdoorsy practicality, with a nod to the house’s Avant-Garde codes. Unlike the usual homogeneous approach to creative expression, Mr TAYAMA has used four different mediums to represent the flower power: print, pointelle lace, jacquard, and 3D appliqué. Of particular note are the prints, fashioned in simple lines and a bicolour palette to complement the 2-way styling versatility (e.g. back-to-front and adjustable designs) of the modern and functional wardrobe for Urban Nature.
Workwear Remakes for Easy Urban-Outdoor Looks
Coinciding with the recent rise of utilitarianism, the stylish yet practical workwear returns this season in cotton and linen to enrich the Avant-Garde androgynous proposition, with urban outfits that are easy to move in for an outdoorsy lifestyle. Inspired by his apron worn for gardening, Mr TAYAMA has enriched the SS24 collection with oversized pockets, straps, and big metal loops. Transformable pieces designed with versatility in mind give wearers the freedom to express their own style, bearing the flag of all-weather functionality for everyday life, both in the city and the great outdoors.
The SS24 collection features the signature COOLMAX fabric for warm seasons. Woven with technical fibres that are cool and breathable, COOLMAX is dry and crisp to the touch. The season also brings in three eco-friendly additions from the “ONIBEGIE” Natural Dye Nylon family – a nylon dyed in stock based on quercetin extracted from onion skin and other natural pigments.
ATSURO TAYAMA
Paris-based Japanese designer Atsuro Tayama is most reputed for his hallmark style of avant-garde designs that combine the subtlety of his Eastern influence with the more relaxed and fluid silhouettes of the West. Asymmetric silhouettes, cuts, and forms outline the signature Atsuro Tayama style of avant-garde women, with a hint of masculinity exuded from within. The Avant-garde gained overwhelming in the 80s, when unconventional elements such as reversibility, asymmetry, knotting, frayed edges, patchwork, oversized details, loose cuts, and overlapping prints, etc wreaked havoc on the reigning design paradigm. Influenced by the movement, Atsuro Tayama founded his eponymous brand to play with these elements, thus creating a brand-new style that is at once modern and avant-garde, tough and feminine.