Issue 07 — Spring 2026

Editorial

Designer Toru Mashiba standing beside an atelier window — Toru MashibaKuramae, 2026

Interview — 12 min read

Inside the original cut
Toru Mashiba on taking jackets apart

In the story behind this fictional label, Mashiba spent 18 years cutting bespoke menswear in Kanda before founding JUNKBRANDING in 2014. This imagined conversation follows the work on AW26, UNPICKED.

Why start with an old jacket?: You find adjustments made for one person: a lower shoulder, a deeper pocket, extra room at the waist. Once the seams are open, you can lay those choices flat on the table and work with them.
What changed at the shoulder for AW26?: We took the pads out and lowered the seam. The canvas still gives the shoulder some shape. Leaving it visible makes that construction part of the coat.

Some of the basting stays. You can follow the stitches around the garment.

Does that change how the coat is finished?: The permanent seams still do their job. The basting marks the earlier fitting, so you can see both stages in the finished piece. For the campaign, a loosely assembled sample lets the fabric move more freely.
What are you working on next?: There are 180 unused linings in the archive. We are laying them out to see which colours and weights can be used together.

Gallery

Drag, swipe or use the arrows — select an image to enlarge

01AW26 Look 01 — Basted overcoat
02Unpicked seam, macro
03AW26 Look 04 — Kilt and jacket
04Campaign — Seams in wind
05SS26 Look 11 — Sheer pleat coat
06SS26 — Heat-set nylon
07AW26 Look 12 — Open back
08Campaign — Under the expressway
09AW25 Look 15 — Quilted tape coat

Archived jackets hanging with numbered tags

Archive — 6 min

Reading the archive tags

Each jacket is tagged before it is taken apart. The tailor, year and original measurements stay with the cloth through cutting and sewing. The AW26 archive spans 1971 to 1996; the tag is sewn into the finished garment’s inside pocket.

Material — 4 min

Working with horsehair canvas

Canvas supports the chest of a tailored jacket. Pad stitching shapes it into a curve beneath the wool. In AW26, the recovered canvas is cleaned, stitched again and left exposed, with the white stitches visible across its surface.

Close-up of horsehair canvas and white pad stitching

Still life — 3 min

Boots borrowed from the workroom

The AW26 styling uses worn boots rather than new pairs. In the collection story, twelve pairs come from atelier staff and their families, then return to their owners after resoling.