“My heart is a little tired,” said Shinpei Yamagishi at a walk-through of his fall collection for Bed j.w. Ford at a showroom in Le Marais.
Known for its romantically minded rock-n-roll tailoring, Bed j.w. Ford (everyone in Japan just calls it Bedford) usually shows on the main schedule, but this season and next it’s taking a breather from the runway. “I wanted more time, both for the business and for myself, so that I can keep everything running smoothly,” the designer explained. “And, it’s embarrassing to say, but I also want to spend more time with my daughter.”
Yamagishi is a shrewd and rangy 40-year-old with salt-and-pepper hair that he ties into a neat bun. That he feels embarrassed to admit wanting to work less to spend time with his toddler is a sad indictment of the industry. Still, he’s doing his best to find the balance (aren’t we all?) and this season focused less on showmanship and more on business, using the money he saved on runway costs to boost production. “This collection is higher quality than usual but at a lower price point,” he said.
Titled “Alternative Elegance,” the gist was that the charm of the mundane, and not the flashy, trashy, algorithm-driven shiny thing, is where true beauty lies. “Today’s fashion is based on what celebrities wear. There is no beauty in that lifestyle, and no elegance,” said Yamagishi. So this collection riffed on an understated sartorial realism, which chimed well with the commercial push.
In practice that push translated into pieces that were sportier and more casual than what Bed j.w. Ford usually puts out: bright and preppy baseball caps, soft wool zip-ups, and shirts with attached polo necks made of cozy fleece. Between the buyer-bait, Yamagishi did his best to retain the brand’s characteristic romance, and for the most part succeeded: see the louchely draped suiting, coffee-hued corduroy shirts with wales so fine they looked like velvet, and a pair of faded denim jeans that had been printed with a kaleidoscopic paisley.
The breathing space Yamagishi allowed himself yielded a few more playful details too—detachable neckties that were fastened to the collars of leather jackets or slung over shirts, and chain-link-seamed cardigans with metal buttons that resembled miniature crown cork bottle caps. Most eye-catching were the tiny golden bells hanging from shirt cuffs, which Yamagishi carried over from last season. “My daughter loves the bells,” he smiled. “So I kept them in for her.”
