One of Fashion's Foremost Geniuses Goes Solo (Again)
Takahiro Miyashita is moving on from TheSoloist. Miyashita's departure from his 15-year-old label is a minor blip on the larger radar of "fashion" but for those who know clothes, it carries real weight.
Criminally underrated during Miyashita's era, TheSoloist. will apparently continue on without its founder according to a loosely woorded statement sent to press and published on Instagram.
"I founded TAKAHHIROMIYASHITATheSoloist., with an unwavering focus to build a solo brand that was both personal and artisanal," Miyashita said. "15 years on, the time has come for what has become a symphony, to close."
Miyashita, like his longtime pal and UNDERCOVER founder Jun Takahashi, was one of the first fashion savants to cross over from street fashion to luxury without entirely settling in either camp.
They debuted in Paris around the same time but whereas Takahashi's fashion-forward shift led to runways distinct from the Ura-Hara scene from whence he came, Miyashita resolutely brought the streets to the runway. Number (N)ine presciently presented graphic tees, exposed-lining suits printed with camouflage and punk shows, ripped jeans and, in a particularly forward-looking move, collaborative sneakers.
Over time, Miyashita honed his craft. References to the designer's favorite musicians and movies, including The Beatles and My Own Private Idaho, remained in place as the garments grew evermore complex and considered.
Miyashita left Number (N)ine, which he founded in 1996, following his landmark Fall/Winter 2009 collection. This was the culmination of all the elements he'd gathered in the preceding years; though it arguably wasn't necessarily his single best work, Number (N)ine FW09 is a still-compelling showcase for Miyashita's deft design language, proportional mix-ups, and textile development, a mélange of densely layered scarves, blazers, shirts, sweaters, and cropped trousers with such exquisite textures that the models more resemble Moebius' sci-fi nomads than dudes wearing the latest fashions.
"I remember thinking that the element of search was a very essential part of the label," Bruce Pask, longtime menswear buyer and then-fashion director of T Magazine, said in 2009. "It was truly disappointing to find Number (N)ine absent from the show schedule. It’s a real loss for the men’s fashion world."
TheSoloist. debuted in January 2010 and picked right up where that Number (N)ine collection left off (after he left, Miyashita sold Number (N)ine to a third-party, which is still producing the brand albeit without any soul).
From that very first TAKAHHIROMIYASHITATheSoloist. collection, Miyashita set the tone for what was to come: Narrow, ravaged garments of a kind with N(N) FW09, maybe a tad more grounded but no less artful.
Over time, though, TAKAHHIROMIYASHITATheSoloist. quietly expanded its purview. It began incorporating more technical fabrics, for instance, and further dramatized Miyashita's typical proportions: loose tops, tight legs. All the while, Miyashita's garments were both supremely fine and downright clever, sometimes designed to be reversible or transformative. They were also priced to match.
The exquisite and enormous patchwork bomber jackets from SS19, for instance, retailed well into the four figures. But that was part of the game. Miyashita has always delighted in producing collections impenetrable to outsiders who only understand his approach after the fact. He always worked in the realm of the obsessive — those who got it, got it. The man is a true original and as proof, pulled off flip-flops better a decade ago than anyone today
TAKAHHIROMIYASHITATheSoloist. Fall/Winter 2025 is Miyashita's final offering, though not necessarily his exit from fashion.
"The music keeps on playing, louder and louder. Just on a different stage," Miyashita wrote in his release. "A new band, a new noise, catch me there..."
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