For creative director Taro Horiuchi, the extraterrestrial premise of Kolor’s spring 2027 collection, titled “Aliens,” was not about science fiction. It was about what it means to be an outsider trying your best to fit in.
“I’m an alien to the company, but they’re alien to me too,” Horiuchi said after the show, referring to his relatively new role at the Japanese label, which he took up last summer after brand founder Junichi Abe stepped down after 21 years. “I think in some way, everyone is an alien.”
That sense of unfamiliarity translated into a collection of unexpected pairings. Western boots were reimagined with chunky lug soles, trenchcoats were turned inside out, exposing their linings and pocket piping. Plaid boxer pajamas became a matching set, while collars, cuffs and bomber sleeves sprouted layers of soft floral blooms, as though everyday garments had evolved into a hybrid species. Everything was simultaneously familiar, yet slightly off kilter.
Horiuchi said the effect was meant to be disorienting, as though each look had been assembled by someone who had studied the rules of dressing but didn’t yet understand the nuances of being human.
The color palette started with a somber black suit that seemed so conventional it was a visual jolt, but moved through tans, greys and blues before landing with several looks in the bright chartreuse we associate with little green men. Ah, aliens.
The concept could easily have tipped into costume, but Kolor’s longstanding strength lies in its technical precision.
There were echoes of Kolor founder Abe in the layered styling and playful construction, although Horiuchi resisted making it over complex, suggesting he is beginning to establish his own rhythm while respecting the house codes.
He worked with new collaborators too, including Taiwanese psychedelic duo Mong Tong on the soundtrack that brought in beeps and boops; Greek-based German artist Klaus Jürgen Schmidt on textile patterns, and Chinese-born, Japan-based painter Yang Bo on the graphics. It reinforced the collection’s spirit of cross-cultural learning.
Horiuchi described the collection as an exercise in empathy, arguing that understanding begins by accepting that everyone is unfamiliar somewhere.
That message felt especially timely against the current geopolitical backdrop. By imagining a world where aliens attempt, but occasionally fail, to belong, he instead proposed that it’s all part of being human.
