Technoculture Oligo Press
Review
For its first ever fashion show, HATRA covered the floor, walls, and seats all in black, shrouding the venue in a darkness that was illuminated only by small lights. The models suddenly appeared out of the dim light, exuding a subtly mysterious presence. Fashion shows don’t get much more extraordinary than this. It was a fantastical vista that also evoked the lookbook of HATRA’s debut collection, which featured clothes sans models, pictured all alone in the pitch black.
Relying on the faint light, the models walked down the runway clad in bizarre clothes, almost like the costumes worn by alien creatures in such movies as Star Wars and The Fifth Element. A streamlined skirt echoed the shape of a collar. A fishnet cardigan used shirt collars for cuffs. Pants were layered with an overskirt, fusing at the knees. Separating and mixing up components like this, HATRA blurred the conceptual boundaries of clothing. As we know, constructing new contours, forms, and equilibria within an ambiguous, liminal realm is the brand’s forte.
HATRA’s designs stem from a creative desire to express the fluctuation of clothing. Having undergirded last season’s collection, that thematic aspiration now emerged even more proudly and centrally. Nothing encapsulated this better than the recurring use of sculpturally pleated pants. The sharp impression from the inorganic and linear pleats was offset by the gracefully swaying arcs limned by the models as they sauntered down the runway. The loose fringe skirt, the ubiquitous straps and belts, the long, thin dress hanging in the dim light—all beautiful touches. The brand’s signature prints included graphic renderings of flickering light, feathers, and scenes reflected on glass as well as a foam print that recreated the optical effect of light penetrating a rough, rocky surface, adding further “fluctuating” motifs.
These ineffably mysterious designs were partly created by AI, whose use in fashion Nagami has championed. “We will eventually arrive at a post-AI age. How will this impact humankind?” Recalling the process of making his collection this season, Nagami said: “When I looked ahead to the future, the whole world flashed before my eyes like watching images inside a revolving lantern.” And with that metaphor, everything made sense: HATRA’s had presented its first catwalk show as a series of images seen inside a revolving lantern. The collection was an assemblage of beautiful, fleeting fragments; momentary ideas and images that came and went in Nagami’s mind.
“This season was a straight ball; no gimmicks, just pure creation. Next season, I aim to throw a curveball,” Nagami has promised. And so HATRA continues to wander around that liminal realm.
