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Kokon To Zai Mens AW12

Kokon To Zai Mens AW12 We need to talk, world. I was all ready to be sooooo over fashion this year thanks to a fairly uninspiring selection of visuals over the past four or five months. But you were all ‘Fuck no dude, check this shit out’ and BAM. Jeremy Scott doing Bartman sweaters and Fifth Element couture. Ashish going acid. Daniel Palillo somehow hitting that perfect combo of future-goth army and Walmart Halloween costume. It’s been like the IRL personification of all my tumblr desires.

None of it quite compares, however, to Kokon To Zai. The Japanese/Macedonian collaborative design team were already on my radar thanks to their SS12 collection, but their Mens AW12 made me audibly gasp. A New Romanticised crossover between Scottish drag queen and okkvlt monk is pretty startling to begin with, and it isn’t perfect (what can I say, I’m not crazy about pinstripes) but the little failings pale against the strengths of the embracing symbology, flattering unisex silhouettes, and clever accessorizing. And those shoes.

Published February 24, 2012.