Rock n' roll, cowboys and that constant gothic touch: history of Number (N)ine Grunge according to Takahiro Miyashita

«The clothes are somewhere between rock 'n' roll, cowboys and that constant gothic touch» says Tim Blanks as he walks through the dusty basement that houses the Ebisu emporium of Takahiro Miyashita, the enfant terrible of Japanese fashion who launched Number (N)ine in 1997. A disjointed vision of tailoring that has earned him an ever-growing following, a passion for the rock aesthetic that contributed to the birth of indie sleaze, ironic T-shirts that combine mainstream aesthetics and cultural references reserved for the few: If you had to sum up the legacy of the brand that managed to condense all the grunge of the 90s, these would be the main points. But Miyashita's creativity does not stop at viral moments, which have made a comeback in recent years with the rise of archival fashion on social media. It goes beyond the red and black striped jumper reproducing Kurt Cobain's favourite for AW03 or the American flags and rosaries typical of Axl Rose's style in SS06. If Number (N)ine is still the ultimate icon of independent fashion more than ten years after Miyashita's departure from the brand, there are many reasons why.

His early collections looked like a psychedelic mess: it was as if someone had blindly ransacked Kurt Cobain's wardrobe, it was grunge, believable but at the same time far too confusing. Slowly, as Miyashita absorbed his later influences from Bob Dylan to goth, this eclectic vision crystallised into something decidedly more mature: exquisitely structured blazers, tailored draperies, waistcoats, darts, giant wooden crosses, the union of ubiquitous America and the minimalism of the rising sun. In recent years, there has been a rise in Victorian elegance that borders on steam punk. But despite the trend towards far more serene shades, a certain tragedy remains in his creations, perhaps the legacy of his mental health problems, which are a constant theme in his production, even with a dedication to the doctors treating him on the back of the SS03 T-shirts: «I express what I want to say in the clothes. For me, a show is the best way to express my feelings.»

To journalists, he had a habit of deflecting overly profound questions about his creative process with a standard reply - «you'll have to ask my brain» - as if his creations were a message delivered by a higher creative intelligence, and he himself merely the humble messenger of a far superior will. Like the rock stars he idolizes, Takahiro Miyashita offers the public only enough information to feed the cult that surrounds him, consciously or unconsciously, but not enough to become a solved mystery in the eyes of his fans. And perhaps that's why, from 20 February 2010 to the present day, when Miyashita announced he was leaving Number (N)ine on the anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death, his legacy persists, including through his current brand TAKAHIROMIYASHITATheSoloist, but mostly through the archive of a brand that has managed to crystallize the cultural atmosphere of grunge, Portland and 90s fashion.