Anyone following independent fashion will be aware of the strong impact that White Mountaineering has made in just a few seasons, since the label’s launch in 2006. Designer Yosuke Aizawa has singularly captured the haute mountaineering trend, while bringing it to new creative heights through a combination of cutting edge textile science and couture design. Label founder Yosuke Aizawa built his strong foundation of textile expertise - which would later become integral in White Mountaineering’s success - at Tokyo’s Tama Art University. Aizawa then went on to pay his fashion industry dues doing a stint assisting Junya Watanabe; his ability to artfully combine cross genre influences into pieces that are both boundary-pushing and wearable clearly shows he was studying Watanabe’s own skill in that regard.
White Mountaineering now offers two distinct labels: in 2009, Aizawa launched the offshoot BLK label, which utilizes materials as technologically advanced as those used in the mainline, and streamlines them into pieces that are often stealthy; it offers contrast and counterbalance to the wider color and texture palette of the main line. For it’s part though, the White Mountaineering main line continues to be a show-stopper every new season. Aizawa deftly takes from both contemporary and classic aesthetics, and renders them together in ways that seem to consistently foretell where trends will be going in future seasons. The label draws strongly on some of the most well used design influences - particularly tribal and native cues - and delivers them in ways that are as far from cliche as could be.
For Autumn/Winter 2011, the collection continues to go above and beyond; there are the technically advanced jackets we’ve come to expect from White Mountaineering, complimented by a range of pieces incorporating beautiful jacquard patterns, wool knits, and highly creative laying combinations.