Why their Paris Fashion Week debut is one of the best shows of the season

IM MEN is one of the multiple labels linked to the widespread legacy of the genius Issey Miyake. With a team formed by Miyake himself in 2019 and being officially launched in 2021, the division has debuted on the runways of Paris with their FW 2025 collection presented on January 23rd, and it's set to replace Issey Miyake Homme Plisse from the official schedule, probably the most well-known secondary label after the official, which, despite also being focused on menswear, has very different approaches and intentions, while still sharing the philosophy of the man who birthed both ideas.

The three-man team is led by design engineer and eyewear expert Sen Kawahara; former member of Pleats Please and 132 5, Yuki Itakura, and textile designer Nobutaka Kobayashi, who has worked in the main Issey Miyake division and Homme Plissé for more than a decade. Between their diverse experience and being guided by Miyake's principle of "a piece of cloth," they explore the versatility, capacity, and adaptability of fabrics to different techniques and manipulations in an effort to always present a new version of what has always been there, either through the use of technology, handcraft, or raw experimentation. IM MEN is a laboratory of ideas that not only uses logic and creativity to create new pieces and collections but also furthers and expands the complexity of fashion and fabrics as a whole, adding value to the craft and the industry.

For their FW 2025 collection, Fly with Im Men takes inspiration from Issey Miyake’s 1977 Fly with Issey Miyake and adapts the general ideas and notions coming from it to the male wardrobe, with an intense focus on functionality and beauty, two concepts that guide their philosophy and that are evident in every piece proceeding from the Japanese label. In the middle of the all-white runway, an installation by Tokujin Yoshioka moves while the models walk; a mechanical arm that ends on a big black square that resembles the plain raw fabrics any piece of clothing starts as, meant to symbolise the dialogue between technology and tradition.

The collection features mostly solid base colours, letting the silhouettes, layers, drapes, and volumes create the character of each piece, resulting in monochromatic complex looks that, standing alone, are striking and intense, and seeing them all together becomes a rainbow of unique and tasteful shades. The looks share among each other the general flow and the comfort of the wide silhouettes present in any Issey Miyake creation, even more in a collection so related to air and space. It's like every garment is floating slightly above the body of whoever is wearing it, leaving a comfortable space between fabric and skin. But, inside this commonality, different series and groups were formed, differentiated by the techniques, concepts, or materials applied to them.

Always pioneering in the use of sustainable fabrics, the show is the first time the Ultrasuede material has been used for making clothing. This 100% plant-based polyester developed by Toray Industries, Inc. can be cut without tearing, therefore allowing the exploration of new cuts and patterns that construct volume in a light way. This series is presented under the name Heron, while Switch also follows the sustainable path by creating detachable padded linings that can be worn by themselves or combined with other pieces in a comfortable way thanks to the soft characteristics of the 100% plant-based nylon fibre made from castor and corn, also developed by Toray Industries.

The Metallic Ultra Boa pieces take the Ultrasuede used in Heron a step further by combining it with artificial sheepskin and fleece and printing it with an external foil texture that resembles a metallic leather that reflects lights and shades that are enhanced by the folds and creases from the oversized patterns. These modern explorations of fabrics don't take away the importance of their attention towards traditional techniques like in Kasuri, taking the centenary craft that weaves dyed yarns in different gradients and colours to create new shades and textures. Entwining three kinds of cotton yarn in different thicknesses and dyes with a jacquard machine, the result is a textured artisanal fabric that is featured in outerwear of simple and clean construction like ponchos and wide jackets that allow the material to be the main attraction and preserve its qualities as intact as possible.

Always taking advantage of the multiple features that can be birthed from the correct use of geometry and the transformation from 2D to 3D, Flat Drape features garments that all form a square when folded but that when worn, fall into their gravity, creating soft and wavy folds in a cape-like way, utilising the elasticity of the fabric cut diagonally to bring lightness with movement and subtle volumes. Wall focuses on outerwear constructed in panels that can show the inner parts on the outside and that can be transformed and rearranged, a characteristic present in most of the garments and that finds its peak in the Fly series. The fabrics here don't discard the usual selvage that is often turned to waste and use them to their advantage to have a natural way of sealing their ends, giving freedom to the coats and jackets to be worn normally or upside down, since the fabric termination on any side of the garment looks the same.

The outer pieces all have a variety of buttons placed in strategic places that, depending on the fastening combinations, transform the volumes and the silhouettes. This feature shines and takes the spotlight on the final part of the show, where all the models start undoing the buttons of the pieces they are wearing, revealing the original form of what they are wearing, a flat square of fabric that looks the same as the one being held by the robotic arm. Holding the fabric behind their head like a flag on a sports event, they start running across the runway while the arm keeps on moving. The freedom and the lightness of not only the collection but also the brand are embodied by this simple but powerful move, where the garments worn by the models run with them with the same facility as they do, proving how what IM MEN do is create a companion to the human body. It doesn't add weight or heaviness to it; it protects it by being an extension of itself, not a burden.

Text by Natalia Andrea