Out of the Forest, Into the Trees: Issey Miyake Men’s A/W 17

Quite a few designers looked at the streets and at urban inspirations for their next menswear collections. Yusuke Takahashi at Issey Miyake turned instead to nature and to forests in particular for the A/W 17 season.

While one of the sets where Antonio Marras in Milan transported his guests and models was a forest made of stuffed fabric trees, Takahashi turned trees into prints.

The catwalk opened with colourful hand-printed patterns of birch forests (was the designer inspired by Gustav Klimt's paintings of fir, beech and birch woods?); the same print returned later on in the collection in a black and white combination.

In some cases the irregular birch trunks were also distorted to create a textured pattern similar to a DNA chain that created a three-dimensional motif on jackets and trousers.

Gradually the main theme was transformed into textured suits, followed by puffer jackets, cropped bombers, light and loose nylon coats in navy, grey and electric blue, and sweaters ideal for natural environments as well as for urban spaces.

The palette went from rusty orange and military green to navy and black, while a wider range of colours were mainly used in the birch prints.

Another pattern appeared towards the end of the runway – checks in a classic black and white combination or in yellow, navy and grey.

Formal and informal at the same time, most clothes – from the collarless suits to the practical pants with a flowing silhouette – had a function rather than being just designer garments and they also proved that classic key pieces are timeless investments rather than temporary cult garments (mind you, the collarless coat in the birch forest print may have been edited out as it looked a bit like the colourful version of the white robes in the Pet Shop Boys' video for "Absolutely Fabulous").

There was just one point that disappointed: Takahashi didn't introduce any collaboration with tech companies in this menswear runway, while the S/S 17 womenswear collection included an "EB" (Electronic Bag) developed in collaboration with Sony's Fashion Entertainment unit.

Maybe technology wouldn't have fitted in this collection that moved from nature, but surely it would have been interesting to see where the tech discourse may be taken in Issey Miyake's menswear.