Kozaburo Fall '17 is Joanne's Goth-Glam Older Brother

Japanese brand Kozaburo first broke into New York fashion when designer Kozaburo Akasaka presented during VFILES' spring '16 runway show. His NYFW debut was inspired by an old record he found covered in sandpaper, provoking Kozaburo to explore a balance between sensitivity and aggression through hand-tailored, hand-stitched looks, some lined with vintage cotton bedding.

This season, Kozaburo's rugged rock nostalgia was still present a la Joanne, but styled with more classic menswear pieces and a powerful glam-goth attitude.

Americana denim was a Kozaburo pillar, with high-waisted jeans boasting a dramatic flare and crop to highlight lace-up platform boots seemingly lifted from David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust archives. One jean had a cherry-red BDSM zipper, while others were completely knit and designed to appropriate real indigo denim--like the style worn by OUT favorite Joel Mignott.

Impressive broad shoulders appeared throughout, on structured overcoats with wide lapels and one '80s-imbued turtleneck that Balenciaga's Demna Gvasalia likely influenced, at least indirectly. Kozaburo certainly values western staples, but appropriated these in smart, subtle ways for fall '17--an effective lineup that felt at once theatrical in its details and approachable in its silhouettes.

Photography: Glenn Garner