Let it be known that Akiko Aoki does not go to the convenience store in her pajamas. While it is not uncommon nowadays to schlep to the 7-Eleven in one’s sweatpants and slippers, the designer has too much self-respect for that. “I have to dress up a little bit first!” she said after her show this season, which took place on a Monday afternoon in a Tokyo gallery.
The line between the uniforms we wear for the world and what we put on purely for ourselves was front and center in Aoki’s mind this season. “The mood these days has become very ‘anything-goes,’” she said, not just referring to fashion. “I think that has some very positive aspects, but at the same time, I feel a bit stressed by the over-saturation of it all.” She sought comfort instead in the idea of dress codes, blending the rigor of uniform with the casual elements of the modern age.
The first look was a nude skirt that recalled shapewear, spliced diagonally below the crotch with the waistband of some tailored trousers. Sweatpants were slashed into wide-leg pants with the lining exposed, while hoodies were reimagined into camisoles, their sides removed to expose the skin, arms tied up at the front. A white pique polo shirt was elongated into an asymmetrical maxi dress that wrapped around the body and was laced up across the back like a corset, while gothic inflections of white lace—one of Aoki’s signatures—appeared as sailor collars on tailored jackets, and on the panels of sheer skirts.
Aoki’s recognizable aesthetic, with its deconstructed tailoring and subversive feminine silhouettes, is something the designer has been refining since she began her brand back in 2014. Her shoes, too, have become a common sight on the streets in Seoul and Tokyo (they have been worn by Blackpink’s Jennie, which promptly sent them viral). Whether she can appeal in the West, however, remains to be seen.
This was an interesting outing that combined all manner of lingerie and tailoring references for a high-minded proposition that, with all of its complications, occasionally felt chaotic. Still, you could never accuse any of it of being sloppy. Those elasticated silk skirts and waist-tie boyfriend shirts were elegant and easy: both runway-ready and, yes, the perfect thing to throw on for a late-night snack run.