A few days ago, HYKE‘s collection designed for Moncler Genius was unveiled.
In the press release accompanying the collection, HYKE’s aesthetic is described as understated and sophisticated, minimal and utilitarian, and their focus on performance blends perfectly with the spirit of Moncler.
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Starting from this collaboration, we decided to go to the discovery of HYKE to better understand what features have led the Japanese brand to conquer the world starting from the passion for vintage.
Founded by designers Hideaki Yoshihara and Yukiko Ode in 2013, the Tokyo based brand represents a unicum in the fashion system landscape. Simplicity, extreme attention to fabrics, embroideries and finishes and a marked delicacy despite the constant maintenance of the utilitarian factor, represent the world around which HYKE’s collections are built.
Heritage and evolution are the cornerstones of Yoshihara and Ode’s creative process, the garments are inspired by different silhouettes from the two designers’ vast vintage collection, continuously revisited by evaluating the history of each item and its transition into contemporary lifestyle.
In 1997, a passion for vintage workwear, uniforms and sportswear more generally, prompted Yoshihara and Ode to open their vintage shop Bowles in Tokyo, and later to establish their first brand Green. After stopping the collection for three years to devote themselves to their families, the designers decided to get back to work, but instead of starting again with Green, the creative duo decided to create a new brand, HYKE, as a synthesis of the new beginning and evolution of their design and study done over the years.
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“We are often influenced by old things. Whether it’s work, military, sports or other uniforms, we draw inspiration from old clothes whose techniques and historical background we research. We analyze fabrics, patterns, and accessories as raw materials, and then rework them into new forms through our filter of ideas”.
Twenty years ago, back in the days of Bowles in Daikanyama, the two designers talked about their relationship with vintage and what prompted them to embark on their own project, showing the almost morbid relationship the Japanese have with vintage clothing.
“We would go and buy only the best clothes from overseas and then put our favorite items on display in the store. However, it made us very sad when these items were sold, so it may have been that the vintage clothing business wasn’t for us. When we found clothes that we liked, we didn’t want to sell them to anyone else. Instead, we decided to create clothes that contained the essence of what we liked, and that’s how our first brand was born, Green”.
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Green‘s first collection signed by Ode and Yoshihara arrived in 1998 and was presented during the Tokyo Collection – what is now Tokyo Fashion Week – immediately gaining great success thanks to the wave of novelty that they managed to convey.
After the Spring/Summer 2009 collection came the stop of almost three years for the reasons we described above and in 2013 they returned with HYKE.
“We started by doing one thing at a time, to go step by step, like we did in the early days of Green. The name ‘HYKE’ is just an arrangement of the letters of our names, so there’s really no particular meaning behind it. We believe that when producing something, it’s best that the brand name doesn’t have some sort of limiting connotation”.
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The use of carefully chosen materials, spasmodic attention to fabrics, and special care in choosing suppliers are all elements that come through loud and clear when looking at HYKE’s collections.
The success and international recognition came thanks to the many collaborations over the years such as those with Mackintosh, adidas, The North Face and many others.
Japanese aesthetics expressed at the highest levels for a brand that, also thanks to the hype around technical clothing developed in recent years, a reference point of contemporary fashion.
