When the newfangled DSM Kei Ninomiya brand launched in 2025, it came with a tagline that read “Untitled, Untethered, Undefined.”
On Wednesday night in Florence, the designer served up an explanation of that concept with his thrilling third collection for the maverick retail emporium’s house brand — DSM Kei Ninomiya is also punk.
The show, staged inside the Sant’Orsola convent-turned-museum, was an immersive performance with gritty undertones. Young and younger types wandered around the scaffolded courtyard disarranged, bumping into each other, sitting next to audience members, climbing the bleachers — seemingly unhinged, willing to let their rebellion, angst and self-expression flow.
No matter that at times the whole acting and choreographed moves felt too staged to be authentic, the show — Ninomiya told WWD during a preview — was meant to represent punk as “an attitude to creation.”
In fashion terms, it translated into a full-on celebration of the subculture’s insignias.
Tartan kilts shortened to mid-thigh evoked both rebellion and sensuality; parachute pants and shorts had fasteners that bounded both legs; safety pins galore came tone-on-tone on bomber jackets and shirts, arrayed in neat rows that read couture-like embellishment; leather jackets tooled just so and sprayed with words like “chaos” were done in collaboration with Schott N.Y.C.; open weave knits were bedecked in punk pins and badges; trousers sitting midway between tailored and utilitarian featured zips running throughout, and edgy tailoring in black came with dangling chains. Black leather slip-ons courtesy of a collaboration with Vans and creepers developed with the OG punk footwear supplier, George Cox, completed the looks.
Reclaiming further legitimacy, the brand teamed with the estate of Jamie Reid, incorporating artworks by the legendary British visual artist best known for developing the record cover for the Sex Pistols single “God Save the Queen” into the collection’s narrative.
Observers have so far argued that the brand was just merch, after all.
“I don’t think merch is a dirty word. I think it’s cool,” said Adrian Joffe, president of Comme des Garçons International and chief executive officer of Dover Street Market.
But Ninomiya’s punk boys for spring would never dare to mess their hairdo with a branded cap. Kudos to hairstylist Pablo Kümin for the mohawks and Afro hair intricately embellished with summer blooms and flowers, so showstopping they risked upstaging the collection.
The inspiration of this collection also framed the brand’s attitude. At the heart of DSM Kei Ninomiya is community, the designer — who’s also behind the Noir brand — said.
“It’s not only one style. We go based on [Dover Street Market’s] philosophy or aesthetic, but we focus on a different community for each collection. Punk has many meanings,” he said. It’s a community that cares “about minorities, about people, it’s not only about money… It’s really more open to the people. I really like [that].”
