Le Graine Fall/Winter 2024
Le Graine
Vancouver Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2024
By Vainqueur Staff | May 8, 2024
Photography by Arun Nevader
Le Graine was by far the quietest luxury fashion entity during Vancouver Fashion Week. With such timeless creations, the seven-year-old brand continues to prove it will be heard above any noise from the people who wear it. With the dark tonality of fabrics, the subtle drop-shouldered mass of shapes, the wraparound details, and sheer exquisiteness, it’s undeniable that these clothes are brilliant!
Lead designer and creative director, Yuko Nakamura’s commitment to cultivating cutting-edge unisex craftsmanship is made with particular attention to decadent fabrics. This recent CHAPTER01 collection goes to an even further extent of ideal timelessness with silhouettes that can carry on from daytime to evening.
The Fall/Winter 2024 collection is inspired by the designer’s longtime journey of seeking an ideal wardrobe comprising function, utility, beauty, and comfort. It’s a vision dead opposite of the cleavage-heavy body-con trend du jour on social media, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t ravingly fashion-forward in its approach.
“I have been feeling the power of a good garment which is high quality, practical, and has a beautiful comfortable mood. My wish is [CHAPTER01] helps elevate a feeling that makes our lives comfortable and brighter.”
Nakamura is committed to redefining the ideal wardrobe with the belief that the excellent atmosphere of an attire lives with things not only from a design surface: roomy mock-neck overcoats in sophisticated pinched-seamed fleece and luxurious Japanese fabrics.
The basic aesthetic is shared across women’s and menswear and has intersected tremendously through the rise of core TikTok trends that rebirth essential styling with cleverly coined terms. Le Graine is actively blending the lines literally and figuratively) by encoding patterns siloed into one-dimensional gendered standards. Hence, Nakamura’s unique masculine use of Le paired with the feminine French word, Graine, for the brand name.
Look 9, a beige button-down coat gives a good idea of a modern-day capote— a Canadian signature that has endured constant evolutions throughout its time. Nakamura approaches the capote with a lightness and softness reminiscent of a button-down shirt. In two other stand-out looks, the themed sheer patch-pocket (look 1 and 4) combination morphs from a risqué office ensemble into somewhat of a transferable evening attire—offering an elevated yet relaxed feel to its simplicity.
One can appreciate why people gush over the most seemingly ordinary garments that Le Graine offers. For example, an outfit that comprised a layered outdoorsy thick windbreaker was at once likened to an everyday workout staple but now is conveyed with some admixture of casualwear and street style edge—luminescent in gradient colour (look 10).
Nakamura seems to have found solace in developing styles that combine elegance, ease, and a reliable modern system for dealing with whatever fall or winter weather throws at us. It’s very Canadian, yet it cannot be reduced to a single archetype. From the seats during the show, the audience absorbed the local culture and benefits from manufacturers in Italy and Japan. With the variations of versatile outwear, Le Graine is a brand to watch and admire as it continues to perfect its je ne sais quoi.
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