CFCL Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear

It was a surprise to hear from designer Yusuke Takahashi that he was feeling “very nervous” at a preview a couple of days before CFCL’s runway debut at Paris Fashion Week. The label has been going great guns since the Issey Miyake alumnus launched it in 2020, with one store having opened in Tokyo in October, and another slated for March. Takahashi, who is extremely focused by nature, is at the helm of a growing business built on sleek knitwear made from recycled fabrics. Sustainability is a priority; functionality is a given. Sure enough, on the morning of the show, the quiet confidence the Tokyo-based designer ordinarily displays in his mission to create “clothing for contemporary life” (the label’s name is an acronym) permeated an efficient showing on an oatmeal-hued catwalk at Palais de Tokyo. for fall, in terms of purpose, but also in its mathematical sense. The former was self-evident: the nascent brand produces all its one-size-fits-most, machine-washable knitwear using 3D-knitting technology, whereby digital designs produce seamless garments that eliminate waste. Unpacking the mathematical connotations resulted in a pared-back collection that glided out to the soundtrack of a “virtual fashion assistant,” Alexa’s more sartorially versed sister, who introduced looks in three languages, including comments such as: “Like the arms of a Greek vase, only the sleeves are sewn.”