So Long, Soloist

What made TAKAHIROMIYASHITATheSoloist so special.

Today’s article is by guest contributor Ashley Ogawa Clarke, a menswear writer based in Tokyo who runs his own newsletter called Wimpy. For more exclusive content, upgrade to a paid subscription.

It’s the same kind of feeling you get when one of your favorite rockstars dies.

On July 25th, Takahiro Miyashita announced that, after fifteen years, he would be leaving his brand TAKAHIROMIYASHITATheSoloist, and that his FW25 collection “The Black and White Realism” would be his last. Known for his punk-inspired collections that blended a dark kaleidoscope of grunge and rock references with western Americana and British influences, the designer was a mainstay on the men’s Paris Fashion Week schedule until COVID-19, when he began presenting his collections in Tokyo.

Long-time fans are used to the heartbreak of a Miyashita departure. Back in 2009, the designer left his first brand Number (N)ine and went out with a FW09 collection called “A Closed Feeling”, where he showed a trippy and dandyish procession of velvet brocades, striped trousers and buttoned waistcoats all layered together in his typically complex yet sensitive way. It went out to the heartstring-pulling sound of Beth Gibbons sadly singing “but it’s all just a show.”