Attachment is known for its bracing minimalism, but increasingly the brand’s draw is that it infuses this aesthetic austerity with sensuality. At its fall show, which took place at dusk in an industrial warehouse in Tokyo, designer Koki Enomoto continued his minimalist-but-kind-of-sexy mission (think of it as Japanese menswear’s answer to what Calvin Klein’s new designer Veronica Leoni called “sexitude”), and presented a collection that was super-pared back but also surprisingly sensitive.
See the sweater pinned up just-so to show a flash of navel; the asymmetric-waist jeans that tucked over to signal a state of undress; and the thin, clingy wools and velvets. The leather pieces—made from bonded stretch leather—brought a subtle fetishistic spirit, while the tonal color palette was even more restrained than usual. A collaboration with John Smedley yielded some luxe-y wool polos and uber-simple scarves that added to the comfortable lightness of the whole presentation.
Enomoto also does a good job of subtly bringing his own humanity into his clothes. The leggings, for instance, weren’t intended as a reaction against the glut of wide leg silhouettes we’ve seen in menswear for the last 10 years, but Enomoto nodding to the heat tech tights that he wears to lounge on the sofa on his days off. Both the silhouette and the concept felt refreshing, and when paired with the smarter wool coats and lace-up leather shoes they lent the outfits a kind of half-dressed intimacy. These direct, intimate infusions gave the clothes a boyish naïveté and tenderness.
Even so, this point could have been made with half the looks. The show dragged a little towards the latter half before livening up for a finale that included a thumping techno remix of Vivaldi’s Winter—an apt soundtrack for a collection that was coldly rigorous but still full of vitality. Attachment’s super-restrained aesthetic codes don’t leave much room to play in the proverbial sandbox, but to his credit, Enomoto always finds a way.