Technoculture Oligo Press
Review
After two seasons of runway shows back-to-back, KANAKO SAKAI returned to the exhibition format to present her A/W 2025-26 collection.
Upon entering the exhibition venue, the eye was immediately drawn to a stunning strap dress made with five different types of lace, combined by hand to achieve a uniquely decorative and contoured effect. Next, we were bowled over by a full-length skirt paired with a glittery lamé jacket made with Italian fancy tweed that had been violently slashed to produce a hand-distressed, grunge effect. Both looks were unmistakably haute couture in their execution and attention to detail. Yet at the same time, they radiated a refreshing realness and rawness that couture is typically too prim to show. Perhaps this tension between refinement and rawness is the je ne sais quoi that explains the inexplicably alluring magnetism of KANAKO SAKAI.
Appropriately, this season’s theme was “imperfection.” The keyword encapsulated the designer’s credo that beauty can be found along the road toward completion. In clumsy hands, incompleteness can seem precariously fragile. However, Sakai capably transforms these qualities into beauty, producing designs that articulate a worldview all her own.
The notion of imperfection was limned by subtle little details that appeared throughout the collection. Look closely and notice the suit studded with sequins cut at irregular curves rather than pedestrianly perfect circles; mini dresses and skirts made with lopsided cuts of leather redolent of freshly culled rawhide; pants that showcase the unfinished edges of their cut-off hems; and grunge knits shot through with erratic streaks of lamé.
Amongst all the idiosyncratic designs, a maxi coat conversely stood out all the more for the ostensible tame universality of its style. Although the coat appeared understated at first glance, closer inspection revealed a lovely, muted mélange created by needle punching recycled wool and velvet. The mottled pattern resembled a well-patinaed bronzeware unearthed from a centuries-long slumber. It turns out this season’s collection was indeed inspired by the antique art and bronzeware Sakai encountered on a trip to Thailand last year, the presumable implication being that timeworn beauty can also be located under the rubric of “imperfection.”
Sakai’s penchant for antimony was also reinforced this season with sequin embroidery on lace and beadwork on trench coats to represent snowflakes, offering a perfectly symmetrical counterpoint to the asymmetrical beauty of imperfection.
“Museum fatigue” is a real phenomenon, describing how intellectually stimulating works of art have a way of leaving museumgoers feeling mentally and even physically knackered by the end. KANAKO SAKAI’s exhibition this season certainly delivered a welcome mental workout. Exiting the venue, we savored the feeling of being both mentally spent yet also intellectually satiated.
