Thank You and Farewell to kolor’s Creative Maverick
Review of Kolor Fall 2025 Men’s Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Fitting Farewell, Material Matters, Textural Layering


The cryptic packing boxes posted to kolor’s Instagram account prior to today’s show should have provided a clue as to the surprise announcement concealed within today’s show gift. A foil ‘lunch bag’ handed out to guests before they took their seats (and which they were encouraged to open before the start) contained a T-shirt and a short message from founder and head designer of kolor Junichi Abe “This will be a special moment for me. Because it will be my last show as a kolor head designer.” The creative force behind the Japanese label is stepping away, but as with any brand that hopes to create a seamless handover he is choosing to stay close to the design team he nurtured saying “Even after this season, I’ll stay to support kolor from the inside.” After starting the brand in 2004, and celebrating his 20th anniversary last year, now seems as right a time as any to bow out.
So, what was Abe’s parting message in today’s swansong? Well, that the material will always be the medium that matters, or as per the designers creative process ‘materials’. The stand-out of this fall 2025 collection was the mash-up of outdoor gear and gentlemanly tailoring that was layered both over and under chunky knits – think a graphic T layered onto a twee cream sweater while the layering of a check car coat under a textured funnel neck was an ingenious bit of styling trickery and is something that will be missed with Abe’s absence.
Overall the collection felt like a through-line to the founders continuous reworking of preppy, tailoring, and outdoor codes that are peeled back, disassembled and reformed to create a visual narrative all of its own.












THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE


This will be a special moment for me. Because it will be my last show as a kolor head designer. Even after this season, I’ll stay to support kolor from the inside. Thank you for all these years. And I hope we will have your continuous support for kolor.”
Junichi Abe, Founder and Head Designer, kolor
THE WRAP UP
The civilised departure of Junichi Abe from the brand he founded over two decades ago is not always one afforded to creative directors, who in recent years have oftentimes been unceremoniously ousted from their positions. Worse still finding out a change is on the cards via a churn of the social media rumour mill where speculation can turn to cold hard fact. In stepping away, (if only partially for now) on his own terms and bidding us “Thank you and Farewell” via the gifted T-shirts sure to become valuable keepsakes as they now mark a commemorative moment, the industry has lost another creative maverick.








link