Connecting East and West, crossing cultures, crafts and aesthetics is the essence of the TATRAS ethos. The brand, after all, was started in Italy by a Japanese entrepreneur with the idea of offering pieces with a strong design identity infused with an utilitarian spirit, and meant for everyday life: a combination of functionality and style conveying a vision of urban elegance. TATRAS keeps staying true to these founding principles.
Meticulously studied in both design and fabrication, collections are meant to evolve one into the next, suggesting an idea of modularity and continuity rather than seasonal disruption. Personal interpretation on the side of the wearer is urged through streamlined shapes that create bold yet functional silhouettes full of useful details. The TATRAS roots are in the duvet, which has been turned into an urban staple that dialogues with and enhances the body instead of concealing it. The same approach characterizes the warmer seasons.
An idea of urban safari and functionality under the scorching sun characterizes the SS26 collection. Multifunctional pieces are conceived for both the city settings and natural surroundings. Clean shapes and organic forms are prominent, with nods to uniforms in the double-breasted jackets, in the asymmetric closures, in the drapey jodhpur pants. Jackets are cropped, blousons are lean, hoods and caps provide shielding. Matching tops and bottoms in graphic patterns twist the idea of the camouflage. Jersey is featured throughout in pieces meant as outerwear or underpinnings. The sum of parts in each garment is highlighted by the juxtaposition of different materials, which is another TATRAS signature.
Fabrics have body and texture, and are treated to take on a lived-in effect, like they were consumed by the elements: washed herringbone cotton, washed envers satin, washed nylon taffetas. Graphic multi stripe patterns on cotton-linen cloth homage Japanese tradition, while florals on nylon taffetas are a nod to Indigo dyeing. A luxurious check-patterned typewriter fabric made from a cotton-silk blend is both crisp and soft. The utilitarian palette features notes of Khaki and Sand accented with shots of Navy Blue and fresh injections of Vivid Green.
The presentation, curated by Mehdi Dakhli with an original score composed by Ed Davenport, turns the dialogue between East and West into a spatial experience in which elements taken from the rarefied Japanese aesthetic are placed in the urban-feeling context of the raw underbelly of the Palais de Tokyo. A Shoji screen and two benches made of Yakisugi wood stand beside a tranquil pond, with a white tree rising elegantly at its center. The tree’s ethereal bark, painted in white, symbolizes purity, renewal, and the fleeting beauty cherished in Japan. White, a sacred color in Japanese culture, stands for spiritual clarity and new beginnings. In embracing timeless elegance within the minimalist design, this set up is a perfect expression of TATRAS’ eternal quest for balance of cultures, which carries in the singular cast that brings the collection to life.
