Tatsuya Tamada was one of the most expected shows in Tokyo this season. He ended the week with a debut that showed off his custom work, held in a dark hall with two layers of steel jetty for seats.
Before we go into clothing, some background. A former pattern cutter in Sacai, Tamada taught his profession under Chitose Abe, before he founded tame in 2021. Like Sacai, the influences of tame largely come from military wear, and also as Sacai he takes a hybrid approach to design, often two different ideas and puree and they purgen together. It is inevitable, at least in the early stages of his brand, that Tamada will be observed in the shadow of his former employer, so tonight his first chance was to establish his own identity. Did he succeed in it?
When the first look appeared on the runway with a double rice with a weak with a fabric with a ribbon of fabric that it shot aside it almost a relief how well it looked. While the appearance continued – a white shirt with panels and bags, a trench coat zipped at the hips and many sharply cut trucks – it became clear that this would not be the provisional debut of a young designer trying to break out of his shell, but something confidently and fully formed.
An important power of the collection was that it looked great from every corner. Coats had straps on the small of the back that collected the fabric in a pyramid shape, or had added zippers or tires on the sides that could be used to adjust the silhouettes of each piece. The colors were also well done, unfolding in an accessible palette of black and navy enlivened with a few spicy additions of pink, burnt orange, white and beige. The loose ties, a tame signature, were cut around the neck or left at the waist of outerwear, adding a sprinkling of Avril Lavigne-Y Grunge to the collection. The military belts that belt over the calves of the pants to give them a wide-losing shape are also a tame-not, and he manages to make them look like a very modest and portable way.
Backstage after the show was the reserved designer with big eyes. “The way I do things is completely different, depending on the season, but this time I felt that there is both freedom and lack of freedom, stability and instability in today’s society. I felt that the world is a contradiction, I wanted to bring an attitude to accept both positive and negative things,” he said as a statement. While he explored that abstract tension, his vision was clear. “I tried to make coats and formalwear that you wouldn’t mind getting dirty,” he said. Indeed, the raw-hemmed blazers and wide loading load jeans had a real convenience for them. Smart but not closed; Beautiful but not expensive, the atmosphere was refreshingly non-special. “I just wanted to absorb high quality wear in daily life,” he said. Innovative, portable and – yes – original, tame tapped all the boxes for a promising debut.