For his first slot on the official calendar, Ssstein founder and creative director Kiichiro Asakawa staged a calm and restrained presentation. He offered up a very wearable wardrobe rooted in nostalgia rather than disruption.
Asakawa’s inspiration drew on small, intimate moments such as family dinners, walks in the park, an elderly couple holding hands, the slow shift of leaves from green to rust in seasonal transition. It all translated into a calming palette of chocolate, chestnut, taupe and greige, with pops of pumpkin and ginger that echoed autumn leaves. Tweed and Japanese-made corduroy, developed to evoke the lived-in wear of vintage finds, anchored the collection.
Silhouettes nodded subtly to the 1940s, with high-cut, pleated trousers falling loosely at the ankle and mohair rugby sweaters striped with a collegiate air. Outerwear provided the collection’s strongest pieces. Brushed wool coats with raglan sleeves held soft volume, reading almost like pleats when cinched at the waist. Elsewhere, double-seamed shoulders cleverly balanced structure and ease, maintaining shape without the stiffness of padding.
Layering was key, from collars nested within collars to bombers with oversize zipped sleeves revealing contrasting linings. Nothing here sought to spark a revolution in menswear, and that restraint was intentional. Asakawa said he chose the brand’s name because the word “stein” itself, which means stone in German, becomes something more when used as a suffix in names such as Einstein or Liechtenstein. He wants the brand to convey that kind of strong foundation, with each piece becoming special for its wearer.
With solid construction, it was a strong start of pieces to be built upon.
