TWO DESIGNERS FROM OSAKA

D.Hygen is the work of two designers from Osaka, Japan, known publicly only by their surnames: Sadakane, the designer, and Tateishi, the pattern maker. They met at a fashion vocational school and first worked under the name Saddam Teissy before becoming D.Hygen.

Their first collection, for Autumn/Winter 2016, numbered around twenty pieces, and the first exhibition in Sadakane's studio drew just two visitors. Their very first order was for gloves. Since Spring/Summer 2019 the brand has presented its collections to buyers in Paris.

STRAINISM: A PHILOSOPHY OF TENSION

The designers call their philosophy Strainism. Basic garments are taken apart and rebuilt so that tension runs through them: a trouser leg twisted inward, a button fly chosen for the pull it creates, original iron hardware in place of standard trims. The aim is still to make real clothes.

Standards rise every season. As Tateishi puts it, last season's 100% becomes the minimum standard for the next.

HORSE LEATHER AND JAPANESE MAKING

Leather is central to D.Hygen. The brand uses fully vegetable-tanned horse leather from a tannery in Tatsuno, Hyogo, skived thin and bonded to jersey, with the final finishing done by hand by the designer. Details such as cordovan buttons complete the pieces, and no leather design has ever been released in exactly the same form twice.

The garments are made in Japan. Denim is developed with processing specialists in Kojima, Okayama, Sadakane's home region, and the brand once spent around a year developing its own leather yarn for a single knit.

SIGNATURE CUTS AND FABRICS

Several ideas run through the collections:

• twisted-curve trousers, cut to turn inward
• deformed herringbone jacquards in wool and cotton
• overlock stitching left visible on cuffs and hems
• detachable elements, such as removable collars, gloves and bags
• distressed terry, mohair and chenille knits

A Paris buyer once described the clothes as like sculpture, which captures how precisely they are built and how differently they come alive on the body.

D.HYGEN AT ORIMONO

Orimono carries D.Hygen with a focus on horse leather, twisted trousers and layered knitwear. Our selection includes:

• horse leather jacket with detachable collar and gloves, horsehide boots and horse leather mittens
• coated riders down vest and wool tailored shirt jacket
• stretch denim and distressed jacquard twisted curve trousers
• distressed terry zip hoody, mohair distressed knit and wool double front sweater
• pieces that pair with Guidi, Incarnation, Julius_7 and Professor.E

Read more about hand-finished leather in Incarnation, or explore D.Hygen at Orimono.