Japanese Fashion's Best-Kept Secret Makes Art of Apparel
I know a thing or two about Japanese fashion. It's the reason I care at all about clothing and remains my primary focus, much more than whatever's happening on the runways of Paris or on social media.
So, safe to say that I'm a little jaded. It takes a lot to impress me, especially with any consistency.
Comoli, designed by Keijiro Komori, consistently impresses me.
Founded in 2011, Comoli is easy enough to uncover if you care to look but that's not even half the battle.
Though Comoli's wares are sold online by a variety of Western retailers, including international stockists Neighbour and Rendezvous, the brand doesn't use social media. Komori himself isn't online, either, emphasizing Comoli's need-to-know aesthetic.
This intentionally modest presence places an emphasis on Comoli's product: these clothes need to speak for themselves, since the brand is purposely staying mum.
And if you care at all about clothing, Comoli's designs speak plenty loud.
As you can see from the no-nonsense lookbook imagery, Comoli specializes in wildly wearable garments epitomized by a relative lack of color and an absurd attention to fabrication.
Comoli's collections are defined by bespoke materials, generous but reigned-in silhouettes, and the same kind of toss-on minimalism epitomized by, say, Martin Margiela's run at Hermès.
Felted wools, crispy poplins, hairy knit cotton, neppy corduroy, undulating lamb leather. If those descriptors don't get your motor running, check your wardrobe's pulse.
Much like painter might approach a canvas, Comoli approaches with the end goal of physically manifesting a personal expression. This is impressively conventional clothing to be calling art, I know, but bare with me.
You can't parse this from quick glances at the goods because Comoli's oeuvre demands studied observation.
And upon seasonal reintroduction, you'll eventually begin to recognize the breezy cut of the shirts, the pillar-like pants, the purposely modest palette
This isn't clothing for the masses, which is why Comoli doesn't use social media. It has no need to communicate anything that its garments aren't able to convey alone.
