Interweaving Subcultures, Fashion, and Music from the ’80s and ’90s
A Lens Into Subcultures Through Fashion
Hideaki Shikama utilizes Children of the Discordance as a medium to delve into global subcultures. His previous explorations include visualizing a world post-conflict, analyzing the aesthetics of the ’80s BMX culture, and researching the ’90s street culture of his birthplace, Yokohama, Japan. The resulting works offer an intricate exploration of style through the distinctive perspective of Children of the Discordance, marked by distressed and repurposed materials, recontextualized and decontextualized graphics, and a consistent presence of a well-tailored suit.
The Spring Collection: UK’s Hardcore Music Culture
This spring, Shikama turned his focus toward the hardcore music culture of the United Kingdom. More specifically, as he explained in a Zoom call, his collection was heavily influenced by a close friend who was deeply immersed in London’s music scene during the ’90s. Shikama’s inspiration from this era was heavily styled by the unique fusion of punk, skater, and music scenes from both Los Angeles and the UK, a hybrid aesthetic that he has artfully transitioned into the 2020s with his new lineup.
The Evolution of Silhouettes
Shikama, as he explained through a translator, has consciously refined the silhouette in this collection, making it slimmer and more streamlined. Trousers, while retaining their fullness at the leg—a signature of Children of the Discordance—are cut slim at the hem. Paired with semi-cropped jackets featuring slightly curved, long sleeves and a selection of over-the-knee skirts with raw hems, the collection strikingly balances the streamlined punk silhouette Shikama aimed to achieve with the relaxed shape usually present in his collections. Through this, he effectively echoes past styles while embracing current fashion trends.
