スカジャン (The Sukajan Situation)
The スカジャン (Sukajan) Jacket, (also known as the souvenir jacket in English) was one the biggest menswear trends of 2016. Sukajan could be seen almost everywhere last year, from vintage stores to runway shows, there seemed to be no stop to the spread of a trend in the west that has been in Asia for quite some time. Originating in Japan, Sukajan have been around since the end of WWII. The jacket is said to have originally been created for American soldiers to remember their time in Japan. The jacket eventually became a trend among rebellious Japanese youth before spreading to other parts of Asia in the 1960s.
Fast forward to 2016 and the Sukajan was reincarnated by both high-end fashion brands and affordable fast fashion chains, each releasing their own version of the sukajan and creating a trend that swept the western fashion world by storm. I was fortunate enough to come across two original (Japanese) sukajan jackets (one of which is featured in this article) during one of my many shopping trips to Bangkok. They were found in a small store run by Japanese lady who foresaw the trend among foreign shoppers and decided to import them directly from Japan. I was immediately taken by the intricate handwork that had gone into stitching such great detail on to the silk canvas.
Although there were many nice Sukajan style jackets around at the time, I wanted to have something that was Japanese made, as it felt more authentic. I have nothing against the sukajan inspired pieces created by western brands, however, I felt if I was going to purchase a Sukajan I’d want to do it right.
The Sukajan trend is something I saw throughout Asia at least a year before it became popular in the west. This made me wonder what other trends we have in this wonderful region that are just waiting to be popularized overseas. As Asia continues to become the region of opportunity for the businessmen and women of the world it’s only a matter of time before the trends that sweep our streets become the treads that take over international runways. Part of the reason I created this blog was to bridge the Asian and Western fashion markets and expose trends, designers and styles that have yet to be seen outside Asia. Although I’m a little late posting about the Sukajan Jacket perhaps my previous or future posts about designs using IKAT and other techniques will tickle your fancy.
