Takahiromiyashita The Soloist Tokyo Spring 2025 Collection

‘Plainsong’ was the name Takahiro Miyashita gave this spring collection for The Soloist, which he intended as a heightened rebellion against the sloppiness of today’s fashion. “Nowadays it seems that clothes are worn carelessly by many people,” he wrote in the collection notes. To make his point, he purposefully avoided using socks or jewelry in the lookbook images, left out anything oversized, and made sure every shirt and jacket was buttoned or zipped to the top.

The collection marked the first time the designer ever made short-sleeved shirts (Tokyo’s stifling hot summer can no longer be endured in long sleeves). Aloha shirts were decorated with winding sheet music and a psychobilly-esque leopard print. The meat and potatoes of the collection, however, were an extension of Miyashita’s persistent Anglophilia; it unfolded in a palette of crimson and black, serving in part as a tribute to the late British stylist Judy Blame.

“Maybe not many people know it, but Judy and I were good friends… he was like an older brother to me,” Miyashita wrote. They sometimes drank together at Blame’s house in London, and Miyashita always marveled at Blame’s sense of style. And so the Japanese designer distilled his friend’s punkishly polished essence through his own unique filter.

Blame’s signature buttons appeared on the sides and sleeves of blazers and Harrington jackets, as well as on the tops of Blame-style berets. “You could say Judy owned me, or maybe I wanted to embody him,” Miyashita added. Elsewhere, gold military shank buttons with original Soloist insignia jingled softly on jackets and blazers (some had as many as 300), while others were decorated with ribbons or covered in embroidered heraldic badges. It was part punk, part marching band; buttoned up yet boyishly boyish, and a fitting tribute.

Miyashita’s tailoring, fabric choices and silhouettes are always meticulous, and the precision of the collection and styling allowed his talents to shine. Sensitivity to the smallest detail; that makes The Soloist special. Under the collar of the custom-made jackets, the designer has taken the time to add a strip of leather to strengthen them, along with a matching strip of soft pink velvet on the inside. It’s undoubtedly something Blame himself would have appreciated.