Dear Shaded Viewers,
Standing on the volcanic cliffs of Tenerife, Yuima Nakazato watched the Atlantic collide with black lava until the waves seemed to lose their identity. Under daylight, the ocean absorbed every trace of light. At night, those same swells resembled dark flames rising from the sea. That encounter became the starting point for Sea of Fire INFERNO, his Fall/Winter 2026 Haute Couture collection, where water and fire emerge as opposing forces bound by the same fragile equilibrium. “Fire brings light and warmth, broadening the possibilities of life, yet also burns whole lands. Water, the source of life, also brings uncontrollable disasters. While both are essential to human survival, each is a source of great fear,” writes Yuima.
That idea of duality extends throughout the collection. Drawing from monogi, the traditional costume-changing technique of Noh and Kyogen theatre, garments transform before the audience, shifting from blue to red as their meaning changes with them. Nakazato also revisits the kimono, whose rectangular construction allows endless possibilities through the act of wearing. His Fragile Armor series continues that exploration, replacing conventional armor with delicate ceramic to question the relationship between protection, vulnerability, and conflict.
Photo by Koji Hirano
Photos by Mika Inoue
This season also marks a milestone for the designer, who celebrates ten years as the only Japanese couture house on the official Paris Haute Couture Week calendar. His long-standing collaborations with Epson continue through Dry Fiber Technology, transforming discarded textiles into new materials while reducing environmental impact. Joining the project this season, YKK has developed fasteners made from upcycled garments, while digital textile printing reproduces Nakazato’s own photographs of Tenerife, turning blue water into fields of red fire with significantly lower water and energy consumption.
For Yuima, every journey begins with a landscape before becoming a collection.
Yours digitally,
Pedro
