One of Fashion's Great Young Talents Reinvigorates Its OG Conservationist
Katherine Hamnett is happy to be retired. The living legend couldn't care less about the fashion industry by this point, her legacy long since cemented by still-relevant slogan tees and a conservationist legacy decades ahead of its time.
But her name lives on.
Yoke, the most recent winner of the Fashion Prize of Tokyo, is reconsidering the codes that Hamnett established in the '80s through a concise capsule that refreshes a handful of Hamnett signatures.
Those huge-lettered tees are the only Hamnett code absent from Yoke's elegant offering but, hey, this is only the first collaboration. There's always next summer.
Across six garments, Yoke reflects on Hamnett's prescient genius with updated iterations of several ageless items "reconstructed" based on archival '80s and '90s samples, in turn creating a snapshot of the lingering influence left by Hamnett's body of work.
Beyond preempting fashion's attempts to wrangle politics and eco-consciousness, Hamnett also had a predilection for vintage militaria, repurposing parkas and cargo pants for evergreen apparel as vital now as it was back then.
Her forward-looking interest in the stylistic benefits of tactical clothes even inspired a short-lived partnership with Kanye "Ye" West, long before his YEEZY line was burdened by merely being associated with its namesake.
(Here, it's worth noting that Katherine Hamnett's Japanese license is operated by a company called Social Plastik and is only related to the British designer by name and heritage, much like The North Face Japan)
Yoke's capsule is an edited download of Hamnett's vision, recutting generous bomber jackets and M64 field parkas from recycled nylon or polyester and organic cotton in homage to Hamnett's sustainable bent. The shapes are loosened up in typical Yoke fashion but the supersized pockets and organic palette is pure Hamnett.
That the six-piece collection slots so neatly alongside Yoke's seasonal fare is a testament to how nattily the seven-year-old imprint has absorbed Hamnett's influence into the modern day, demonstrating yet another timeless Hamnett tenet: good clothes know no age.
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