Whether a three-button suit jacket with slightly accented shoulders, a Balmacaan coat with a hint of an A-line flare at the hem, a perfectly fitted parka, or a relaxed denim jacket and hooded coat with a hair of extra wiggle room in the body, much of the collection would be at home in the classic menswear wardrobe. The trousers this season similarly toed that fine balance with silhouettes that were either classically slim or else wide within reason. Even playful details—colorful D-rings and swivel hooks, along with semicircle piping at the belt and pockets—still felt familiar as perennial menswear flourishes.

Thematically, this season sought to present an “Antithesis to the Surveillance Society” through the lens of fashion, commenting on how cancel culture and online mob shaming have curbed freedom of expression. This theme would certainly explain the dour monochromatic color scheme. Of course, true to form, TSTS offered a few more shades of nuance. Lookbook images shot from four angles—front, back, and both side profiles—evoked mugshots and Big Brother’s all-seeing eye. Peeking through all the black, the garments were styled to reveal flashes of buttons and other details in bold, primary colors that glimmered as beacons of hope and expression in a repressed society. In this light, jackets slung over the shoulders from multicolor straps came to resemble wings ready to ferry the wearer to freedom.

“TSTS is often accused of being excessively ostentations, but all we’re really doing is putting patterns on otherwise simple garments,” says designer Takuya Sasaki. “We try to pare away all unnecessary information.” In other words, even the most provocative TSTS designs reflect this designer’s idea of minimalism. Underneath the eye-catching vivid colors and exaggerated proportions of past seasons were sedate standards at heart. As the latest collection showed, what truly sets TSTS apart is their talent for putting an entrancing new twist on unassuming standards.