CFCL Fall 2025 Menswear

After a decade or so designing menswear at Issey Miyake, Yusuke Takahashi founded CFCL, or Clothes for Contemporary Life, during the pandemic. An experience he called “a dream come true” in dark times, it was a manifestation of what the designer had wanted to do since he was a student. It also presented a chance to combine ideas about interpersonal connection through clothing with state-of-the-art technology, as well as to transform knit’s casual reputation into something much more sophisticated.

A student of the Mingei movement—Japan’s iteration of arts and crafts, honoring artistic expression through humble, everyday materials—Takahashi focuses on functionality. For fall, crisp knits mimic cut-and-sewn tailoring: A muted teal jacket with a single button and seam pockets looks as structured as suiting yet stretches with movement. That piece, the designer explained, was made with office life in mind: He’ll wear it to meetings, but, as a creative, his own everyday uniform is the boxier, more cardigan-like variation. In the same spirit, seemingly straight trousers have a subtle cocoon shape, while CFCL’s best-selling tapered trousers channel a sportier look.

Elsewhere on the racks, a selection of textured knits featured what Takahashi calls “more high-fashion” finishings. Those included ribbing on varsity-style jackets, three sizes of accordion pleats and peekaboo details on one cardigan, and batwing sleeves slimmed by V-shaped darts in subtly contrasting hues. That said, not everything seemed engineered: A simple, seamless ivory cashmere hoodie looked just about as chic as that garment can get.

“We don’t need anything superfluous now—what we need is practical elegance,” he offered. To wit, the designer said that his easy-care, travel-friendly lineup has achieved the highest B Corp score in his home country and Patagonia-level scores internationally, and he is on track for carbon neutrality by 2030.