Hold the phone! Junya Watanabe’s collaborative streak looks set to continue through 2023 after the designer teased a myriad of link-ups at his FW23 show at Paris Fashion Week on January 20.
The designer — whose FW22 collection featured pieces with the likes of Levi's, Carhartt, Dickies, and Pendleton — was rumored to have gone "theme-less" for his Parisian MAN showcase, instead focusing on reworking classic materials with gear parts used in other fields, like motorsports.
The collection itself was described by the brand as a reproduction of Junya's archives, but, in truth, it was the collaborative aspect of the capsule that really stole the show.
Predominantly monochromatic, co-branded apparel with the likes of The North Face, Karrimor, Haglöfs, Champion and Carhartt was showcased, while New Balance sneaker silhouettes like the 2002R and 550 were teased with a typical (albeit minimalistic) Junya twist following last year's 574.
Most notably, the Japanese designer also looks to be adding everyone's favorite collaborator Palace to its ever-growing list of partners, after the London label's Tri-Ferg motif was spotted on an intriguing black hooded jacket ensemble.
To be honest, if this show taught us anything at all it's that the much-hyped Watanabe collaboration hot streak is showing no signs of slowing down, and we're here for it.
Sure Palace and NB are often considered to be the industry's serial collaborators, and with good reason, but if Junya continues in this sort of vein, he might well be joining the club very soon.
