“Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.”

Inspired by a statement from the celebrated late great photographer and fashion historian Bill Cunningham, sacai designer Chitose Abe considers the emotional protection that clothes can sometimes afford, particularly in an ever more
challenging and conflicting world.

Abe splices her signature hybridisation to its ultimate expression, with a collection that holds the idea of a dress at its heart and riffs on what a dress can be. One-piece dressing is explored, with jackets and coats presented as dresses, with underpinnings and shirts attached to the outer garment, and an ambition of ease of dressing, morning to night. The notion is expanded with long boots that appear as if they are trousers when viewed from the front. The silhouette is refined and perfected, to surprise from every angle – a flight jacket front + voluminous suit jacket sleeve + quilted back; a bomber jacket melded to a peplum jacket.

Abe delivers her collection with a goal of maximising the notion of the hybrid, that’s been at heart of her vision for sacai since the beginning, telling a different story from every angle in movement and always celebrating strength and beauty.