TO MEN presented the Spring Summer 2027 collection, In Praise of Bamboo Shadowsat Césure in Paris. The cultural space, located in a former university campus in the 5th arrondissement, gave the collection a quiet space for movement, layers and alternating forms. The season explores the sensory impact of bamboo shadows through clothing. Silhouettes oscillate, lines overlap and figures drift between clarity and disappearance.
IM MEN was inspired by the decorative arts of East Asia with bamboo motifs, first encountered during a visit to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Ink wash paintings of misty bamboo forests and kimono-style paint stencils updated the collection’s visual language. Branches, leaves and layered forms gave the team a way to translate shadow into texture, volume and pattern.
The set design built a fantasy world of black bamboo and shadow. Behind a veil, figures moved back and forth in the background, slowly revealing their outline. Translucent layers added depth while the scene changed from moment to moment. The presentation turned the central idea of the collection into an experience of perception, distance and gradual revelation.
The Bamboo Shadows series features patterns from a graphic designer Rikako Nagashimawho examined the forms created by bamboo shadows. The team printed the designs with ironaki, a Japanese dyeing technique, on fabric woven from bamboo fibers and organic cotton. A double front coat with generous dolman sleeves envelops the body in the design when the wearer lifts the hood built into the lapel.
Bloom Nylon uses high-density nylon with a paper-like texture. A paint flow technique creates colors reminiscent of bamboo leaves and flower petals. Overlapping pleats form the collar, which takes cues from the jūnihitoe worn Princess Kaguya in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Bamboo Bleach brings the theme to denim through hand dyeing and discharge printing. Artisans leave the base color along the seams to suggest the tonal shifts of the bamboo in ink wash paintings. The finer thread gives the jeans a lighter feel, while the jacket can cinch in at the waist.
Basket Jacquard uses jacquard weaving to create a raised version of the interlocking structure seen in bamboo gozames weaving. Recycled polyester, nylon and polyurethane create a lightweight, stretchy fabric. The blouse comes from a rectangular design with slits forming the body and sleeves, while the tapered trousers echo the same structure. Bamboo pleats and pleats continue the study of bamboo through hand pleats, valley pleats, undulations and the rhythm of natural knots.
Bamboo Sheath uses hand-painted strokes to suggest bamboo shoots, fibers and layers of skins. The pants create a draped shape around the body. Void Cotton explores negative space by removing pockets, allowing the body and clothing to show through new layers. The Chimaki leather bag takes its shape from traditional food wrapped in bamboo leaves, with natural leather that softens and shines through use.
The collection also presents the SORTIE VEILED, the second ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT model. Miyake Design Studio and ASICS based the shoe on the SORTIE marathon line of the 1980s, encasing key structural elements under a continuous textile veil. The monochrome sneaker maintains comfort and mobility while moving naturally through everyday life.
