There’s nothing like sharing a NYC sidewalk with a swell-headed poodle sporting fancier accessories and a better haircut than you to realize stereotypes exist around every corner (or in fashion’s case, around every closet). Example: if I said “cardigan”, what’s the first word that might pop into your head? Classic? Conservative? Perhaps.. boring? Luckily, exceptions to the rule also exist.
     Enter Sacai–the small Japanese label more intent on breaking with tradition than following it. Chitose Abe, the one-woman show behind Sacai, has been quiet at work crafting her caliber of knit and tailored separates that are anything but. Before launching her collection in 1999, Abe cut her teeth at the very top of fashion’s food chain, designing knitwear for Comme des Garcons and Junya Watanabe, respectively, for 8 years. As such, “classic” might as well be a four-letter word, while “whimsical” and “avant-garde” are standard issue in describing Sacai’s aesthetic.
     You’ll see things like delicate flounces of satin or chiffon – Abe’s go-to finishing fabrics – set into seams or added to hemlines to create an unexpected burst of volume, or detachable cuffs and collars in boldly contrasting textures that shouldn’t work together, but always do. Some pieces are even fully reversible, allowing the wearer to change up their entire look without ever having to change their clothes.