Starting with the New York Collection at the end of September, autumn fashion weeks in the usual major cities -- London, Milan, Paris and Tokyo -- all ended without producing any styles that might set a big trend. Although this was partly because the COVID-19 pandemic forced most runway shows to go online, it doesn't come as a big surprise to me because it's been like this for ages now. It's a thing of the past when one silhouette could dominate the streets. Although, dare I say, masks coordinated with outfits might be the only thing that has stood out this year.
The same goes for color. It's unthinkable today that the streets would be filled with a single color. However, there is one notable trend involving color -- over the past three years or so, the dominant color for pants has changed from blue to black. That is, from blue jeans to black cotton pants. In April or May, during the height of the stay-at-home period in Japan, I walked across the Shibuya scramble crossing, which was visibly less crowded than usual, and noticed that many passersby, both men and women, were dressed in all black. Of course, this black is the color of absence. Hmm, I see.
After the pandemic started, the media was busy reporting on the suicides of high-profile actors and entertainers one after another, some at a young age. The disease seems to weigh heavily on people's shoulders. Suicides in Japan were decreasing in recent years, but the number of suicides in September was 1,805, an increase of 8.6% compared with the same month last year. The increase is particularly serious among women, with the rate of increase in August, September and October being 40.3%, 27.5% and 82.6%, respectively.
Does such a social climate contribute to the color black standing out on the streets? This dark, bleak age may evoke the time when tuberculosis was a fatal disease.
While I was deep in thought about such things, one color suddenly emerged quite strongly this autumn. The move was led by Uniqlo U, a collaborative fashion line between Uniqlo and designer Christophe Lemaire, which is slightly more design-orientated than Uniqlo -- as it's known for basic, simple outfits. You could say Uniqlo U is the trendsetter of sorts for Uniqlo, which sells 900 billion yen annually in Japan and 2 trillion yen in the whole world today. I was surprised when I looked at the main advertisement of Uniqlo U's Heattech innerwear lineup for the autumn and winter season, which went on sale on Oct. 26. Both the background and the Heattech T-shirt the model was wearing were brown! The brand is seriously pushing the color. Apparently, this is the first time that Uniqlo U is using Uniqlo's popular Heattech thermal fabric.
Furthermore, actor Satoshi Tsumabuki is seen wearing a brown coat on the cover of the December issue of Uomo magazine published by Shueisha Inc., which I regularly read. Even the magazine's title logo is in brown. It blew my mind.
Obviously, brown is a subdued color. If you are to use this kind of shade, at least you'd go for khaki or beige, and be surprised if someone insists on going with brown. That's the way with fashion. Isn't brown a color bound for failure, so to speak? In short, it's a dull color. But there are times when you have to use a certain color even if it's dull.
As I look at the color brown again, it certainly looks unfashionable, but I guess we can't deny that it has some vibe of hope. After all, it's the color of the earth on which we humans live. Although we are currently facing various kinds of hardship, something good will happen if we can survive -- the color brown has that kind of feeling. And here I am, feeling the power of fashion for the first time in ages.
Miura is the editorial adviser of WWD Japan.
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