Junya Watanabe Man Men's RTW Fall 2009

The Japanese have a thing for Americana, but if anyone’s going to get you Mississippi yearning, it’s Junya Watanabe. For fall, the designer pushed into a new frontier with his ode to hunting and fishing, disassembling each garment and morphing it into something new. A tailored pinstripe suit and shirt – part of Watanabe’s collaboration with Brooks Brothers – reversed into a quilted hunting jacket with a buffalo plaid collar, while a gamekeeper jacket with rifle patches became a part-down, part-tweed blazer. From the waist down, Watanabe took his ongoing collaboration with Levi’s to the great outdoors, adding leather patches and exaggerated turn-ups, while high waters and corduroy knickers also flooded the collection. Although its theme is a well-trod one, Watanabe’s collection was full of novelty and added a much-needed touch of levity to fashion week.