For Fall 2007, Juun J offered Paris COVER UNCOVER, its first taste of his sharp tailoring, featuring among other things, a vision of outerwear as principal garment in the shape of a trench turned coat dress. Over time, his apt tailoring and generous silhouettes became a runaway success, making him one of the most anticipated names on the menswear schedule. Women had little choice but to snap up pieces, as evidenced season after season, lest they succumb to envy.
A decade later, the names of each of his collection were embossed on the glossy black invitation that prefigured his Fall 2017 collection. Beyond that walk through memory lane, Archive ran all the tropes that he has referenced in the past: suiting, MA-1s, pinstripes, khaki, paper-thin nylon, sportswear, utility, those layered openings and of course, the trench coat. This was a demonstration on how to reference one’s history, made by a master, constructing and deconstructing a vocabulary he has fully mastered. Solid colors made the textures and structures truly come out: unlike others who are working the oversized trends these seasons, Juun J has long been working these proportions so his new works were perfectly balanced between reference and update. Elongated silhouettes, hands hidden, hems kissing the floor, felt more impactful for their almost-familiarity. Retro-futurist as always, it tapped into many of the key notes that are coming to define the silhouette of the decade: the slouching curve of a dropped shoulder, the oversized cuts hanging off the frame. The capsule womenswear which he here showcased, an acknowledgment to his female customer base, rounded out a lineup with an urban militaristic edge and impeccable ken for sportswear elements. For the finale, light nylon parkas emerged to billow with every step.
As far as anniversaries go, Juun.J’s was perfect: reminding us why we fell in love in the first place while letting us know that the best is yet to come in the next decade.
