If Korean designer Juun.J has his way, we're all going to be spending a lot of time walking the streets in statement outerwear next season. So better get ready now for beefed up motocross jackets, deconstructed trench coats and oversized shearling jackets.
Juun.J is all about conceptually upscale streetwear-facing designs. He defines his work with the phrase 'street tailoring'—a blend of atelier craftsmanship and contemporary styling that's helped him build an international fanbase that includes celebrities like Rihanna and Wiz Khalifa. Given the honor of serving as the guest menswear designer at the 89th edition of the menswear mecca Pitti Uomo, Juun.J used the platform to simultaneously honor Italian artisans and create a yet-another forward-thinking collection—both through his avant-garde outerwear.
At a pre-runway press event, the designer highlighted his new take on outerwear, focusing on quality fabric and exaggerating proportion and shape as much as possible. The racing jackets were bulked up enough to fit gridiron-ready shoulder pads. The trenches were cut at the bottom; the base of the jackets splaying out as models stalked the runway. Shearling was expanded to a size that could accommodate a model and a half—with swollen sleeves gobbling up most models' upper appendages. But for all of the contemporary touches that Juun.J employed, he was clearly cognizant of the heritage that's embedded not just in the Pitti Uomo tradeshow, but in Italian fabrics and design.
"For this collection, I used a lot of leather," Juun.J explained to Complex via a translator. "In some sense it’s to show appreciation for the Italian artisans, leather artisans especially." He noted that the quality of Italian wool, leather, and lambskin was another motivation to use those materials almost exclusively when creating his outerwear.
But his inspiration touched upon other sources, too. Adorning his oversized shearlings were the graphic designs of Hajime Sorayama, the Japanese graphic designer that Juun.J has considered a personal hero since the 1980's. While Sorayama's name might not be one that pops out at first glance, his pin-up style robot paintings have appeared on everything from an Aerosmith album cover to The Smithsonian Institute's permanent collection. Now, Sorayama's work is wrapping around the fine Italian lambskin coats in Juun.J's Pitti Uomo 89 runway finale.
It seems that Juun.J is right on trend with the grand procession of shearling coats. Shooting to incredible popularity in the last few months, the retro style has taken hold even outside of the menswear world—due in no small part to the style's luxurious wooly warmth. But, if you're feeling a little burned out from going retro, Juun.J's shearlings are the perfect way to bring the piece into the future. Sure, wearing Juun.J's take on shearling may give passersby the impression that you also have a closet full of XXXL "tall-tees," but, it the crowd's reaction to tonight's show is any indication, they'll eventually come to appreciate you were just a little ahead of the curve.
