JU-NNA is ‘On-Schedule’ to Break Through: London Fashion Week AW24 Review
This might just represent every student ever...taking our 9-5 into high fashion with JU-NNA.
The Japanese-British womenswear JU-NNA debuted at London Fashion Week on Sunday 18th February at Fashion Scout. The collection ‘On Schedule’ is inspired by workwear, but takes a fresh spin on it. Drawing from Japanese street photography of exhausted workers after a drunken night out, relieving themselves of their professional stresses.
Draped in their various array of outfits, models were instructed to walk in unsteadily. Mimicking a hangover, but with a distinct purpose, with some taking calls on the runway and others holding various office accoutrements like binders and coffee cups. With the modelling direction of zombie-like lifeless walks, one is reminded of the soul-sucking nature of capitalist office jobs, allowing for a deeper meaning to the show. One rooted in a very real reality. As such, the audience is made to endure the uncomfortable process of confronting the stresses of an employee succumbing to the toxic drinking culture in Japan, but having to keep enduring their 9 to 5’s.
The limiting office wear colour palette of greys, blacks and whites does not take away from the collection as a whole. The use of textures and twisting or folding of fabrics eclipses this limitation. The ruching on pants and the draping of fabric asymmetrically, creating dimension was truly inspiring. The collection is set apart by its attention to fabric using subtle prints, from tonal Shibori (a signature of the brand) to edge-painted cotton. A personal favourite from the collection was the button-down with overly long sleeves, slightly cinched at the waist, just enough to create some dimension, paired with black trousers with the extra fabric wrapped around itself to give a flared silhouette. With the asymmetrical skirt, made from what appears to be a suit jacket paired with a shirt, that appears to be a regular formal button-down worn incorrectly, creates a completely different look.
What was particularly striking was the hair direction by Masai Konno, mirroring the clothing in its lopsided and “almost unprofessional” styling, with hair swept to one side, emulating a slept-in look, and the “wet look”. The collaboration with London-based jewellery designer Karthur Builds was a brilliant choice, with pieces having elements of office stationery such as paper clips, adding to the overall corporate theme. The collection is fittingly timed with the ‘office siren look’ wave but takes an edgier and more interesting approach.
The collection is fittingly timed with the ‘office siren look’ wave we've been seeing online, no doubt thanks to movies like The Devil Wear's Prada (thank you Gisele Bündchen), and celebrities including Bella Hadid who adopt the look flawlessly. Yet the collection possesses an edgier, more interesting and seemingly darker approach. The JU-NNA AW24 collection is a brilliant start for the brand in approaching a collection through world-building and the use of immersive techniques. It would be interesting to see how the brand continues to use traditional Japanese techniques to push the limits of fabric printing and dyeing, hopefully in more avant-garde or extravagant designs as the brand grows. We know we can't wait to see what comes next, until then, it's back to work for us...
Hair Direction: Masashi Konno
Makeup Direction: Laisum Fung
Styling: Myles Manfield
Jewellery: Karthur Builds
Art Direction: Edie Flanagan
Edited by Fashion Editor, Megan Shears
