Brace yourselves for yet another designer collaboration at H&M, coming to you on September 2. Hot on the heels of its highly successful capsule collections with Irish designer Simone Rocha and L.A.-based label Brock Collection this year, H&M has announced a forthcoming collaboration with Tokyo cult brand Toga Archives.
Founded in 1997 by Yasuko Furuta, Toga has received critical acclaim and amassed a devoted international fanbase for its experimental take on everyday classics. Defined by a genderless, fiercely individual approach to fashion, Furuta’s aesthetic hits the sweet spot between contemporary cool and playful sensuality.
Yasuko Furuta
The designer – who studied fashion design and patterning in Japan and Paris, presented her collections in Paris in 2005 and started showing at London Fashion Week since 2014 – is also known to marry traditional Japanese elements with Parisian elegance and London punk.
READ MORE: Louis Vuitton Just Showed A Nike Collaboration
“Fashion can communicate ideas and interests immediately and non-verbally. With Toga, I have explored the concept of the customer having agency over what they are wearing, a decision that conveys their personality instantly: they can choose to have bare skin underneath a hole in their skirt, or put trousers underneath. I would love for this H&M collection to introduce that idea to a global audience,” says Furuta.
H&M x Toga Archives – coming to you on September 2.
Set against the raw, brutalist architectural backdrop of London’s Barbican Estate, the campaign – styled by Jane How and photographed by Johnny Dufort – features “exciting reimaginings of Toga Archives’ archival hits for men and women, given contemporary twists.”
READ MORE: Alexander McQueen Goes To Town With A Rebellious Cool Capsule Collection
For womenswear, expect hybridised trench coats, deconstructed shirts, plisse skirts, dresses with clever cut-outs and bold prints, and exacting tailoring with dashes of eccentricity. Accessories such as mesh pumps with cool cowboy heels and studs, bugle-bead earrings and collar necklaces are feminine with a touch of tough glamour.
Toga Archives is known for its individualistic spin on wardrobe classics.
Meanwhile, Toga Archives menswear signatures like the blue striped shirt and transparent V-neck jumper are reworked in clever cuts and iridescent colourways respectively, while the reversible bomber jacket comes with a vintage scarf lining.
One must-have from the men's department: a reversible bomber jacket with a vintage scarf lining.
See the full collection and prices below.
A version of this article first appeared in Harper's Bazaar Singapore