Junya Watanabe Upcycled Up a Storm for Spring 2025

Upcycling, but make it couture. Junya Watanabe delivered a pulse-pounding jolt of sci-fi fashion on Saturday morning, collaging BMX and motocross gear, Tyvek carrier bags, Velcro strips and even soundproofing foam into graceful coats and otherworldly cocktail and evening dresses.

From the first few silvery exits, you weren’t quite sure if his models were going skydiving, raving or on a space mission, but you were intrigued by these feisty ladies stomping out in their cropped, silvery cowboy boots.

The gripping 2014 film “Ex Machina,” starring Alicia Vikander as a conniving robot powered by AI, was Watanabe’s inspiration, which translated directly into the beauty look: little lacquered and mesh helmets to echo Vikander’s bald allure.

Backstage, the Japanese designer said he imagined an AI-powered being assembling her wardrobe with “everyday materials” that were lying around. (Apparently, this being works in a motorcycle garage in Kyoto, Degner being among the performance brands pilfered.)

The Donna Summer disco anthem “I Feel Love,” sung here by Sam Smith, added a party atmosphere to the display as models stormed out into the darkened space, confronting each other briefly as they passed on the runway.

The Japanese designer coaxed heaps of chic from industrial and high-tech materials, assembling them in exacting ways to create peplums, puffed sleeves, portrait necklines and other signposts of mid-century couture.

The impressive sleight of hand was the femininity and elegance he coaxed from stiff shin pads, zippered pouches and stiff, foil-like fabrics.

Asked if he has every toyed with AI, as other fashion designers have, Watanabe chuckled, offering: “I’m more of a low-tech person.”

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