AW2026–27 ≠ Not Equal: It Started with “Halation”

AW2026–27 ≠ Not Equal

When I’m working on a collection’s theme, I make a habit of taking the first word that comes to mind and writing down whatever it brings up.

For AW2026–27, it started with the word “halation.”

I think halation happens not just in color and light, but in what goes on in the world, and between people, too.
We call for diversity, yet we’re expected to be the same.
There’s talk of sustainability, while things continue to be made and consumed in huge quantities. I was thinking about those contradictions through this word, too.

So what would halation mean for SEVESKIG?

What came to mind was conservative style.

To be honest, I’d never really understood the point of making conservative clothes at SEVESKIG.
Plenty of brands already make those clothes.
I kept wondering why we should go out of our way to make them, too.

I’ve never wanted to make something you could swap the label on and no longer tell which brand it came from. That feeling has always been there.

So, to me, conservative style sits as far from SEVESKIG as anything could.

If something that far away found its way into SEVESKIG, wouldn’t it create halation?
That was where I started thinking about the designs for this collection.

It wasn’t simply that I wanted to make conservative clothes. There’s a little irony in it, too. But rather than putting it bluntly into words, I’ve wrapped it up a little and worked it into the designs.

Add elements of formalwear to timeless vintage shapes. Make small what we usually make big. Bring patterns and embroidery into the same tonal range. As I wrote down ideas like these, I was exploring a different look for SEVESKIG.

The design tricks, embroidery and finishing techniques, though, stay in place. Changing the appearance didn’t mean I wanted to lose the parts we wanted to keep.

Looking further into the origins of the word “conservative,” I came across “conserve.” To protect. To keep.

That was where “conservative” began to take on a different meaning for me.

To protect the craftspeople who have helped shape Japan, and keep their work going.

Embroidery workshops, dyers, weaving mills, tanners. Those were the places and people that came to mind. I’d started out thinking about how to change the way the clothes looked, and ended up thinking about keeping the people and skills behind them going.

SEVESKIG ≠ Conservative.

Even if they look more alike, they don’t become equal. Bring the two together in a single garment, without erasing the difference.

Those were the thoughts behind AW2026–27 “≠ Not Equal.”