Maison Mihara Yasuhiro, Washed up? Never
I've been fascinated by the recent rise and rise of Maison Mihara Yasuhiro. In the span of a few short years, designer Mihara Yasuhiro has gone from strength to strength, as his warped sneakers and quirky clothes quietly crop up at tastemaking retailers across the globe.
It wasn't that long ago that Yasuhiro's eponymous label was an obscure never-ran that had hardly any visibility outside of Japan. Founded in the late '90s, Yasuhiro's eponymous label really only drew attention for creating weird and wonderful shoes as part of a long-running PUMA partnership, which even birthed some shoes that preluded his popular contemporary sneakers.
Nowadays, the Maison Mihara Yasuhiro brand — Yasuhiro added the "Maison" moniker only a few years ago — is surprisingly famous, with its original "melted" sneakers stocked internationally and worn by a bevy of famous folks. Yasuhiro has even developed some sub-labels, building his own mini-empire in the process.
Maison Mihara Yasuhiro Spring/Summer 2024 sees Yasuhiro at the top of his game and in full comfort zone. We're talking big, baggy, beautiful garments washed-out and faded with vivid three-dimensional treatments.
The theme is "Acid," as in LSD, which Yasuhiro interprets with desaturated, worn-out cotton jerseys and twills. It also means enormous proportions, with hoodie sleeves nearly scraping the wearer's knees and distorted denim jeans floating around the wearer's lower torso.
Is Yasuhiro washed-up? Try washed-out: his deliriously distressed garments look both utterly contemporary and classic, if '90s grunge can be considered classic already. Well, if Marc Jacobs says it is, then who am I to argue.
New sneakers are also on hand, including a new style called "Charles" that Yasuhiro claims is "a sleeker and more defined silhouette" that's been in production for years.
Given the vivid imagination necessary to bring Yasuhiro's footwear dreams to life, that doesn't surprise me one bit.
Still, I'm surprised it seemingly took less time to concoct the nutty T-rex handbags that Yasuhiro created for SS24 than his new shoes.
In the aughts, Yasuhiro trained a variety of talented young designers, including Masayuki Ino, founder of brilliant LVMH Prize winner Doublet.
It's about time that Yasuhiro got his deserved recognition. If it took a few hit sneakers, so be it.
