IM MEN presented its Spring Summer 2027 collection, In Praise of Bamboo Shadows, at Césure in Paris. The cultural venue, set in a former university campus in the 5th arrondissement, gave the collection a quiet space for movement, layers and shifting forms. The season explores the sensory effect of bamboo shadows through clothing. Silhouettes sway, lines overlap and figures drift between clarity and disappearance.
SPRING SUMMER 2027
IM MEN took inspiration from East Asian decorative arts with bamboo motifs, first encountered during a visit to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Ink wash paintings of misty bamboo forests and katazome kimono dyeing stencils informed the collection’s visual language. Branches, leaves and layered forms gave the team a way to translate shadow into texture, volume and pattern.
The scenography built an imagined world from black bamboo and shade. Behind a veil, figures moved back and forth in the distance, slowly revealing their contours. Translucent layers added depth, while the scene shifted from moment to moment. The presentation turned the collection’s central idea into an experience of perception, distance and gradual revelation.
The Bamboo Shadows series features patterns by graphic designer Rikako Nagashima, who looked at the forms created by bamboo shadows. The team printed the patterns with ironaki, a Japanese dyeing technique, on fabric woven from bamboo fibers and organic cotton. A double front coat with generous dolman sleeves surrounds the body in the pattern when the wearer lifts the hood integrated into the peak lapel.
Bloom Nylon uses high density nylon with a paper like texture. A dye flow technique creates colors that recall bamboo leaves and flower petals. Overlapping tucks shape the collar, which takes cues from the jūnihitoe worn by Princess Kaguya in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Bamboo Bleach brings the theme into denim through hand dyeing and discharge printing. Artisans leave the base color along the seams to suggest the tonal shifts of bamboo in ink wash paintings. Finer yarn gives the denim a lighter feel, while the jacket can cinch at the waist.
Basket Jacquard uses jacquard weaving to create a raised version of the interlacing structure seen in gozames bamboo weaving. Recycled polyester, nylon and polyurethane create a light, stretchy fabric. The blouson comes from one rectangular pattern with slits forming the body and sleeves, while tapered pants echo the same structure. Bamboo Pleats and Node Pleats continue the study of bamboo through hand pleating, valley folds, undulations and the rhythm of natural nodes.
Bamboo Sheath uses hand painted brushstrokes to suggest bamboo shoots, fibers and layered skins. The pants create a draped form around the body. Void Cotton studies negative space by removing pockets, allowing body and clothing to show through new layers. Chimaki Leather Bag takes its shape from the traditional food wrapped in bamboo leaves, with natural leather that softens and gains luster through use.
The collection also introduces SORTIE VEILED, the second ISSEY MIYAKE FOOT model. Miyake Design Studio and ASICS based the shoe on the 1980s SORTIE marathon series, enclosing key structural elements under one continuous fabric veil. The monochromatic sneaker keeps comfort and mobility while moving naturally into everyday life.
