It was a “Thriller” night at the Doublet show on Sunday night, with zombie-like models traversing a runway with the most unflattering light possible in their pieced-together Frankenstein tailoring, hoodies with wry slogans, and versions of Michael Jackson’s iconic leather jacket by Deborah Nadoolman Landis.
The show was a hoot, pinging between the truly frightful — army-green parkas whose splayed hoods lined with blood-red fluff recalled the Demogorgon monsters in “Stranger Things” — and the hilarious: a trench coat with two big bolts poking out of the collar, or a jumbo hoody declaring Nap, instead of Gap.
Kudos to Doublet designer Masayuki Ino for his rich fashion storytelling, from the venue, a pharmaceutical college to the invitation, a flyer for therapeutic massage that foreshadowed the denouement of his display: Wiped of their fright makeup and dead-eye contact lenses, the models emerged for the finale refreshed and smiling, newly alive thanks to naps, massage therapy, yoga sessions and protein powder, among the wellness interventions portrayed on the clothes and accessories.
Masauyuki managed to shoehorn a lot of the season’s trends into his concept, from the boxy tailoring with prominent topstitching that opened the display to his artfully sagging tweed jackets and cool leather pants, studded where an acupuncturist might twist in the needles.
These are fun clothes for the street-style set that might not fulfill the promise on that massage-flyer invite — “We can help improve that painful pain!” — but may lift spirits via tongue-in-cheek humor.
