Although it is a bit late, I figured I would provide some thoughts about Visvim’s SS26 season. Firstly, I will address the elephant in the room– pricing. At this point if you are paying U.S. MSRP for Visvim and you’re not in some far-out tax bracket, I am not sure you make financially sensible decisions. I absolutely adore the clothing, but that being said with the markup from tariffs, and the amount of trunk show to final production discrepancies, I am not sure what keeps some clients coming back other than pure masochism. More than anything, I just wait patiently to get it second hand.
This was the first season I got to see the collection in-person at the trunk show. For the most part, I really like the direction the brand chose this season; however, one gripe I have with Visvim is the patterning on certain tops. I appreciate the shift to wider cut pants, roomier top blocks etc., but when it comes to the tops I feel as though some of the sweatshirts/sweaters are just comically oversized. The hem of most sweatshirts sits so loosely on your body that it doesn’t even insulate you. What looks best with these new looser pant silhouettes are more proportional, fitted tops, such as the 24AW 101IT. Instead, there are too many oversized items that result in a sort of streetwear-y oversized fit throughout the whole body. At least for my body, I find the look extremely unflattering.
An item with this conundrum is the 102X JKT IT. For starters, the trunk show items look nothing like the final product. The blue specifically, is an entire shade or two lighter than the trunk show model. When it comes to fit, I love that the jacket sits properly at the hips, but what I don’t love is how comically oversized/ballooned the arms are. It results in the jacket creating this sort of blobbed muffin-top look rather than something sleek and flattering. It pains me to say that about a brand I have had such unwavering loyalty towards, but I can’t believe that a key piece to the collection looks so horrible on body.
On the flip side, a leather jacket I like is the Strato JKT IT. It is a beautiful horsehide swing-top style jacket. I would like to see this one in person to compare it to other horsehide jackets Visvim has issued previously. The fit seems more in line with what I would like to see from Visvim, although I don’t like the elbow patches much. One thing I have heard from a few veteran collectors this year is that the new IT jackets just do not feel as premium as seasons prior. With a regular horsehide jacket hitting roughly the $10,000 mark, and having no shearling nor any premium lining, this is disappointing to hear. It’s an open secret that the IT program from Visvim is overpriced compared to other Japanese labels, but passing the five figure mark on a rayon lined leather jacket is a new territory for the brand.
Two pieces I did enjoy are the Sharma Mil Pants in the frogskin camo fabric and the Hellion P.W. jacket. I love vintage frogskin pants and seeing Visvim incorporate the pattern into a nice wide flowy silhouette makes me excited to try them out. I saw it in person at the trunk show, and it seems that the final production version looks just as amazing. The double knee, reinforced construction of the Sharma Mil isn’t my favorite, but the camouflage seems to hide it quite successfully.
The Hellion uses a beautiful handwoven, natural fiber (Khadi) cloth from India. This is the first iteration of the Hellion that has really caught my eye. I am still navigating whether or not it feels too much like Bode or Grandma's quilt, but more than anything it reminds me of these blankets from India that my girlfriend put me on to. In terms of pricing this one does not seem awful (in the Visvim outerwear universe) at around $2,000 for Japanese retail, but if anything that just tells me that it costs far less to produce than the average I.C.T. Kerchief/Hellion.
The last standout piece for me is the Whymper Boots-Folk. I have never liked the previous versions of this boot or the Serra (R.I.P. the goat) nor do I like your typical Danner hiker, but something about these boots really captivates me. Perhaps it is the classic Visvim horsehide, or maybe the chunky toe, but I think they absolutely crushed it with this model, and it is going to sell like that. A lot of the silhouettes Visvim makes tend to be insular and only celebrated among the Visvim community, but I think these have the potential to crack the zeitgeist.
Perhaps I am keeping this brief, but I am not sure there is much more to say. I think I will have far more of an opinion on the collection as a whole once it has been released and photos of all the items in the real world start floating around on social media. Besides the gripes I already mentioned, the one thing that still bothers me is the redundancy with leather that has plagued recent Visvim seasons. I like the horsehide that gets used, but they seem to have flat out given up on using more experimental leathers of the early 2020s. I am thinking of the pigment dyed sheepskin from 2020, the Horween horse leather on the first Eton– these are the things I want Visvim to do more of. I am sure it is incredibly costly, but when you see brands like Taiga Takahashi doing mud dyed horse leather it makes you question if Visvim has potentially plateaued in their innovation.