The Casablanca S/S 2022 Printemps-été ‘Masao San’ collection launches in stores globally today. Dedicated to Masao–a close friend of the house–the collection draws inspiration from the Memphis Milano art movement and Charaf Tajer’s travels through Japan during the country’s peak years of innovation, when technology was at the forefront, and renowned tech companies excelled, continually breaking new ground.
Across both men’s and women’s, pigment-drenched silks are filled with pastel colours and unique rainbow gradient transparent fabrics appear across dresses and twin-sets. Memphis-inspired wavy plackets and scalloped hemlines are shown throughout tailoring and denim, meanwhile the towering-yet-tranquil Mount Fuji plays a pivotal role in the collection, adorning silks and jewellery as well as this season’s après-sport offering, with picturesque hand-painted designs created in-house by half-Japanese painter Gard Diop. Workwear evolves, tailoring is purposefully avant-garde and effervescent, and the Casablanca monogram transforms to show the forceful movement of a ping pong ball – another significant source of inspiration for the Printemps-été collection.
Casablanca’s expanding luxury bag range – delicately hand-crafted by artisans in Italy and
Spain – gets a pastel gradient twist, with the introduction of the computer case: a classic style reimagined as an essential accessory.
Lifting from the aesthetic of 90’s Japanese ads for new technology, when companies such as Sony, Honda and Panasonic led the way globally, ‘Masao San’ pays homage to a time when the salaryman helped keep the city moving, when clothing had to carry both style and functionality – adapting to fast paced cities and communities.
