Chitose Abe's sacai is contrastingly as popular as it's ever been and a best-kept secret. Abe's advanced deconstruction of apparel norms has won her accolades aplenty and those Nike collabs are everywhere but sacai isn't as common a sight on city streets as other insider-y fashion faves.
Perhaps that's because sacai excels at flashy hybrid garments that rarely make for accessible daily staples or because the Japanese brand isn't exactly affordable for the average schmoe and why'd they buy something advanced when the ol' standbys are right there?
sacai Spring/Summer 2023 might change some things (hopefully), as the Japanese label is dishing up some attention-deserving collaborations with Eric Haze and Clarks, plus suits made of Loro Piana wool.
Haze is a multifaceted artist who's done everything from graffiti to graphic design for The Olympics.
His contributions to the sacai canon include vivid all-over printed blousons, coats, shirts, and pants, rife with that Haze signature: densely layered illustrations in a limited color palette.
It ain't KAWS, I guess, but it's all better looking and even more approachable than sacai's Lawrence Weiner collection.
Then, there's sacai's Loro Piana garments.
Designers don't really collaborate with Loro Piana to create clothes branded with that covetable LP tag on the wrist, mind you: the LVMH-owned fashion house is a fine fabric mill that produces yardage of premium textiles that nearly anyone can purchase without even being in direct contact with Loro Piana.
So, despite sacai being perhaps best-known for its collaborations, its suiting tailoring isn't a proper collaboration with Loro Piana.
Still, it's all pretty nifty. Extending from the casual — backpacks and shoulder bags — to the avant — billowing zippered jackets, piecemeal dresses — sacai takes LP wool far further than Hiroshi Fujiwara, the label's last major collaborator.
Instead, the sacai SS23 collaboration most likely to achieve crossover success could be is its forthcoming Clarks footwear.
Offered in beige and black suede, the handsome boots take the classic Wallabee to beefy new heights with a chunked-up midsole and lugged sole and are, IMO, sacai's best collaborative footwear since its Hender Scheme shoes.
