Mihara Yasuhiro Is A Windowlicker To Humour Our Nostalgic Senses

‘Isoprophlex’ is Mihara Yasuhiro’s preferred song from Richard David James’ catalog. It could be argued this song was an appropriate ‘iso’ — as iso means equal — moment for our conversation two days after his A/W 24 menswear presentation ended. This song expresses enraged techno with sounds from warring synths in rhythmic sword fights; sonic ‘one-two’ clicks that make your head bounce; a nostalgic, dreamy interlude creepily sung by a child; and lastly, drum patterns that march speedily upwards giving way to reverb in excelsis. Its totality paints equally the Mihara Yasuhiro method behind stitching together past and future nostalgias.

This is a designer who finds comfort in familiar soundtracks: the ‘Soul Train’ Black disco Americana joyfully celebrated with a Josephine Baker wink, tucked into his synthetic polymer experiments on excess. The tentpole conductor Don Cornelius looms large in Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO’s autumn-winter underbelly. Ebullient pleasure from the Cornelius-orchestrated ‘Soul Train line,’ a perfect syncopation of young, Black people in love dancing. The collection smashes something elegant together with something outsized. Then, it crashes both into a wall of cozy MIHARA signatures (vintage varsity, vintage denim in tatters, vintage cheerleaders) to fit neatly into what ‘Isoprophlex’ sounds like — an intelligent dance miasma of child’s play.

Revisiting fever dreams from his childhood for a new collection, Yasuhiro-san sat down to be interrogated. He poked at my massive buckled boots, themselves an oblique nod to a certain Chris Cunningham-directed underworld, while answering an oddball round of questions that touched on why to trade in slender shapes for gigantic proportions. His inner child simply has zero chill. It is here we envision the sinister grin of gleeful kids from the Aphex Twin clip ‘Come To Me Daddy.’

Heaven help our closets next season.

Why did you shift from American iconic artists that inspire you to explore this larger silhouette?

I have been studying what clothes could be more comfortable. I wanted to actually create clothes which have a big silhouette, and are more comfortable. I wanted to focus more on the product than creation. That's the reason why I moved from the American icon styles to this specific style.

Is it a personal challenge within oneself to move from personal inspiration to product development?

That's exactly right. For example, many people think when you create a big silhouette that it has to have only the bigger size. But that's not what I wanted to do. I wanted to make it something further. I wanted to explore the big silhouette possibility. I think a trend is going to be tighter than tight. For me, I like to explore this idea of big silhouette clothes more.

Are there various sizes in the silhouette or is it only the one size?

Oh they have their various sizes!

Oh my God!

It's available in various sizes.

How is the Mihara fan responding to this larger silhouette? Is it challenging for them as well? Are they excited because it's still your work within a different vision?

I think my fans are generally pleased to have these big clothes because they are more unisex. There are many people who like the clothes which are unisex. This means many women would like to buy my mens’ clothes and vice versa, which is why I think my fan base is expanding.

I have mentioned that I have studied the patterns of the clothes. And that's why I encountered many patterns of dresses, coats of the 1940s and 50s. In that example, which has such bigger series from European culture, like Dior, Balenciaga. You must know that I have been loving the vintage workwear style for a very long time. Something I wanted to do is to interpret this European, old couture style into a workwear or vintage style.

So I think for me, what I propose is the new elegance. A new, elegant style.

Does that explain the kind of shiny pieces with the peacoats, which was codified by Yves Saint Laurent, and then the contoured, shiny stuff?

Actually the glossy and glittery had inspiration from a kind of nocturnal world. A nocturnal universe. That means, actually I'm more immersed in my childhood memory. That means when I was a small child, like a teenager or smaller than that, I longed to wear the grown-ups’ clothes. Sometimes I tried some grown-up clothes also. I was transported to the disco, not the club. And I was attracted by this kind of nocturnal world, nocturnal universe.

Something's coming together here.

But now I'm grown up, ‘I'm fully grown up.’ Older [Laughs]. Now when I look at this kind of nocturnal nightlife world, it seems more childish than when I was child. And that kind of paradox is what I wanted to interpret.

Are you an only child or do you have brothers and sisters?

I have one older brother.

That explains it. That kind of dreamscape, of going to where the adults go in the disco, could only be conjured up by an only or youngest child. Your trying on the fun clothes also makes sense for this roomy silhouette. It's not just about product development. It is also indulging your younger self. Indulging the dreams, the fantasies and the aspirations you had when you were a kid. If you're the youngest, you can do it because it is your constructed world. If you are the only, you can do it because it is your constructed world. If you are the oldest, you can't, you just end up knowing everything.

I was the youngest.

There we go.

Do you have a brother?

I have too many siblings. Yasuhiro-san, if I could get rid of some siblings, you can have about four of them.

[Laughs] How many?

Eight.

Wow!

So this roomy silhouette, this product design answer, makes sense from a challenging perspective but really it’s just you waltzing with baby Yasahiro.

[Laughs] Thank you. I just can't remember just what happened in the past. I'm living in the memory.

Maybe?

Actually I have a child, a kid who is four-years-old. Sometimes I dress him with my clothes. When I look at him, I think he looks really cute. And I'm thinking that I was like this. I was like him when I was. When I was small.

Could that be another part of it?

This collection has the message that every adult can become like children. But also, I wanted to put the beauty and the elegance…

Like the flapper dress or the fringe!

Actually, the dress was inspired again by the nocturnal world.

Really?

When I went to a disco on the screen, when I was a younger kid, you could see the American show Soul Train, for example. And many people were dancing to the funky music. My expression from the dress is coming from those images. I also wanted to make something tight-like silhouettes. So that's the result of my inspiration.

Yasuhiro-san, you were quoted as being out of touch with reality. Like maybe you don't know what you are doing anymore. It was a cheeky thought. Why did you say that?

I'm not very interested in the future of fashion. So I'm not interested in futuristic styles or technological aspects. I'm more drawn to heritage or classic styles. So I often say to people that I'm fed up with present society. But I still have hope. My creation is similar to an older guy talking to a younger generation in a Japanese bar.

It can be difficult to have a genuine conversation now with real people.

Now I'm 51 years old. Now I can imagine what kind of response I can have when I ask questions to younger people. It's more that they seek my advice. So instead of giving advice, I like to focus on my creations.

Spoken like a true only or youngest child.

[Laughs]

If you're the only child or the youngest, you are generally concerned primarily with your surroundings. You tend to tune out what's happening around you and only focus on what it is that you are doing.

[Smiles showing his teeth] Exactly. Because I had a big brother, that's why I wanted to focus on myself. That is exactly what I wanted to do.

How do you explain the generosity with Kamiya, for example? Kamiya being this up and coming kind of sportswear designer supported by you. It is really generous how you pay it forward, giving him a platform to do something exciting. You're actually not that selfish!

Okay, I mentioned that I actually have hope, I have hope for the younger generation. And I don't want to create a wall between the generations. For Kamiya, he never studied fashion in his life. He is self-taught. He also used to be a salesperson in my shop. I found in him the strength to learn something, and he wanted to. He was open to learning. That's why I wanted to do something for him.

What song or set of songs best describes this collection and exploring the larger silhouette?

Song or songs? Song? Music?

Right.

The title is very complicated, so that's why I have to find it. [Walks away] … [Returns] This is a song which influenced me a lot. Techno music was good. Actually, I used to create techno music when I was a teen and in my early 20s. I created music because of him.

Apex Twin?!?!?!

Yeah, Aphex Twin.

ISOPROPANOL?!?!?!

Yeah. I listened to his music, so I stopped making music. His music is not dance music, but very emotional.

It's like the most austere, emotional tech-know techno ever!!!!

Actually when I was younger, I had been creating ambient, experimental kinds of music. When I listened to his music, I found him very talented and I felt myself…

You couldn’t do it anymore!

No more. I did not need to create music because he's there. That's why I moved to art rather than music. The modification or sudden change of the species is the same kind of inspiration or idea. That's why I moved to create the big silhouette.