Last week, Visvim unveiled their FW24 collection, “In an Intuitive Manner.” The brand released its lookbook on their website and mailed limited physical copies of its dissertation and visual appendix to various clients and retailers. This text is the first time in nearly a decade that Visvim has published a complimentary reading of its new season. The dissertation provides a detailed look at each process used in creating the new season, including its chain stitch process, which you can already see on the Visvim website. A currently available item that this process was performed on is the recent SS Alcan Jkt Dry released with the 2023 I.C.T. capsule.
While the online lookbook was rather uninteresting, this booklet bundle sent by Visvim has sparked an excitement that has become a little dull in the past few seasons. Sure, Visvim is still unmatched in my eyes, due to its craftsmanship, and I always like a few pieces each season, but it's hard to feel the attention to detail in the clothing and design process from afar when the dissertations have turned into afterthoughts in the past few seasons with seldom uploads on the site. I studied art history in school, and when I started to dive into Visvim these dissertations scratched an itch in my brain for that anthropological side of fashion. It fascinated me that a brand could concisely explain these fleeting, more than a century old ways, in which they would manufacture clothes. Often they would even utilize the only factory left in existence with that production capability, such as their famed Gara-Bou items. They serve as a compass and an encyclopedia all in one; a guide to the galaxy of artisanal clothing production. They point you in the right direction of where to look for these factories, while simultaneously offering glimpses at the histories and cultures behind them. The brand strongly spoke to me due to its strict determination to preserve this tradition.
The book begins by reminding enthusiasts of its commitment to providing Goodyear Handsewn Welts on its boots and certain sneakers such as the Corda Folk, although I have never seen a customer successfully resole their sneakers with Visvim’s help. Two pieces of footwear spoke to me the most: The first was Decoy Duck Mid-Folk, which replicates L.L. Bean’s Duck Boots 1:1 replacing its upper with Italian vegetable-tanned horsehide. The second was the new Corda-Folk, which now uses the upper pattern of a Foley Folk (a cult favorite of Matt, Overdye Co-Founder) and combines French calfskin with Japanese ostrich leather. This upper replaces the previously used leather upper on the Corda Folk that featured a large “V” motif.
Moving to pants, Visvim gives sharp attention to detail to the newer cuts of their Social Sculpture lineup, mainly the 01 wide. As someone with wider thighs, I am interested to see how this compares to the 00/01 cut– currently the only cut of Visvim denim I can fit. In the book, they showcase both an 01 Wide Raw Mud OD iteration, and an 01 Wide Damaged-41, which features bleach stains that look straight out of a Sex Pistols wardrobe. For the fans of the DMGD Gifford pants of previous seasons, Visvim is releasing Wide Chino Pants damage processed in a similar fashion in black, beige, and light green. This season, Visvim is releasing two new trouser silhouettes : the Russo and Benning pants. The Russo pants seem to have a similar drape to the Mccloud slacks of previous seasons, with pleats on the upper around its waist, while the Benning pants look to be a wide cut of a classic military baker style trousers. When styled in the visual appendix, they look extremely flattering, even on incredibly thin models.
I was particularly impressed with the detail in the cut and sew section, which dives into the design process behind the graphics for the season. Currently, one of Visvim’s largest criticisms is their increasingly text and graphic-heavy clothing. While I do resonate with this view, my feelings have slightly shifted after being shown how Hiroki and Kelsi sketch many of these motifs by hand, such as the Jumbo Tee S/S Peerless Alcala. Each graphic may not be my personal taste, but it leaves me with a more artisanal feeling behind the concept, rather than a quick cash grab. One sweatshirt I am hoping to grab for myself, is the Jumbo SB Hoodie F.Z. Crash. The hoodie features a beautiful garment dye effect that coupled with its printed “Visvim State Reserve” makes it appear truly vintage. I am worried about the new zippers this season, following Visvim’s choice to mostly no longer use RIRI zippers, but hopefully, their new proprietary ones do not let me down. Moving on, I was very excited to see that they are continuing their more narrow shirting cuts, such as the Fairway S/S, which uses the same fabric and chain stitch pairing as the SS24 Wallis Down Shirt S/S. Easily, my favorite section of the book was the mini dissertation, which explained Visvim’s fabric sourcing down to them creating their yarn. They even included the bookmark to the book in this section, which I can only assume is made out of their proprietary fabric; simply mind-bending details.
As always, Visvim’s outerwear offered some of the strongest pieces in the collection. My favorite, somewhat obtainable jacket, was the Alcan JKT in a wool/linen blend with some custom “Peerless” chain stitch text on the left chest side. The jacket reminds me of some of my favorite Visvim jacket cuts: the Rodney and Goodyear Swing Top. There is also a sleek Six Five Parka, sporting the usual N.D. finish. This time, Visvim combined it with their Valdez model, as the Six-Five now has a hood and detachable coyote fur trim. It also uses vintage Crown zippers and a customer RIRI zip fastener. I am not too sure how often these zippers will be utilized due to the already-mentioned, new, in-house zippers from Visvim, but we will see how it unfolds in the coming months.
Finally, the heavy hitters (which I will only be able to appreciate from afar due to their ludicrous price tags). The first one that caught my eye was the Crochet Knit Vest. On one side you have a naturally dyed, hand-knit vest that features a fully reversible Kofu side, what more could you ask for? Easily one of my favorite items from FW24 is the new silk shantung crosby, which uses a hand sketched illustration of pine needles with subtle WMV and Visvim branding. Between its silk taffeta construction and white goose-down fill, I also found the Kodiak JKT's newest iteration remarkable. On the final page of the included Visual Appendix, the Thorson JKT (Mawata Silk) caught my eye. It uses a subtle greenish hue with its entire lining made from what looks like the newest jacquard silk pattern for FW24. Additionally, it’s impossible to leave out the Winfield Coat, which is nearly three jackets in one. The Winfield comes equipped with its own detachable collar and liner vest both made of Uzbek sheepskin fur. I can only imagine what the U.S. retail cost will be. If that didn’t sweeten the deal enough it is also garment dyed and damage processed.
This teaser left me incredibly excited to see more of the season over the next few months. It’s tough living on the East Coast of the United States because there is no real way to interact with the full collections unless you have the money to fly to Santa Fe, Los Angeles, or Carmel-by-the-Sea for a trunk show. Regardless, I hope they open a New York City or Hudson Valley store someday as I think it would fit the brand, and help it grow to a wider American audience. It seems rare to find a brand in the modern fashion expanse that has intentions so pure as Visvim, while they do occasionally stumble and the prices help its founder live a luxurious lifestyle, the clothes undeniably resemble a true and honest passion that has remained unwavering since its inception. I sincerely hope they continue to provide this level of detail for all of the upcoming seasons, as it has rekindled that joy that brought me to them in the first place.