Taro Horiuchi presented his first collection for Kolor with the Spring Summer 2026 season. The Tokyo-born designer, now based in Japan, joined the brand as Creative Director following his experience with his namesake label and menswear line th products. This new chapter opened with a collection shaped by tailoring, subtle contrast, and a calm sense of instability.
Horiuchi approached the collection through the lens of time and rhythm. He titled the show with short phrases: time travel, chic humor, the hours, the waves. These words offered an entry into the mood rather than pointing to a narrative. The garments followed this tone, built on construction, but softened by irregularity.
Tailoring grounded the work. Horiuchi did not reject structure. He chose to shift it. He pulled from traditional forms, then introduced edits that disrupted their perfection. Collars slipped off center. Lapels broke away from their expected lines. Hemlines tilted, and proportions stretched gently. The results landed in a space that felt deliberate but never stiff.
Horiuchi focused on balance, but not in the usual way. He didn’t treat order as the only measure of design. He allowed the garments to drift slightly, to step out of line without falling apart. This quality gave the collection its energy. The clothes held shape, but also suggested motion, like time passing or waves shifting.
Humor entered through styling and detail. The mood stayed quiet, but the choices showed confidence. A jacket sat slightly off. Trousers folded in a way that felt accidental but proved thoughtful. Color combinations followed no strict rule. Horiuchi used humor as a tool to open up space inside the garments, to let air into the form.
Horiuchi carries a background that informs the way he works with structure. After studying photography at Kingston University in London, he shifted to fashion and earned his master’s degree from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in 2007. That same year, he won the Diesel Award at International Talent Support and later collaborated with Diesel on a capsule distributed across 13 countries. In 2010, he launched his namesake brand, followed by th products in 2018.
