At the Espace Niemeyer in Paris, Kolor’s Fall Winter 2025 collection carried an unexpected weight. Before the show, guests received silver bags containing a letter from Junichi Abe himself, announcing his departure from the brand he founded in 2004. After over two decades shaping Kolor into one of Japan’s most quietly influential fashion houses, this would be his final collection. But rather than a retrospective or sentimental farewell, Abe delivered a masterclass in his signature approach, layering past and future within a single garment. Corsets were draped over pea coats, aged jewelry adorned shearling jackets, and tailoring revealed its inner architecture through exposed interfacings and restructured lapels. Subtle yet striking, the collection was a final display of his meticulous balance between experimentation and wearability.

Abe’s departure leaves a question mark over Kolor’s future, with no successor yet announced. But his legacy is already etched into the brand’s DNA, a philosophy built on precision, technical mastery, and a quiet defiance of convention. Kolor’s strength has never been about spectacle but about the details, the way garments challenge expectation while remaining deeply considered. As the last looks moved down the runway, there was no grand statement, only a sense of evolution. Whatever comes next, Abe’s influence will remain in every layered silhouette and deconstructed seam that continues to define Kolor long after his final bow.

CREDITS

Photography exclusively for LUCENTEMENT® by Zlata Lisova