Homage
Founded in 2003 by Japanese designer and Creative Director Arashi Yanagawa, John Lawrence Sullivan is a brand known for its subversive suiting and streetwear. Initially concentrating on menswear, Yanagawa introduced a women's line in 2010, broadening the label's appeal and imbuing it with a new dynamic. It's a brand that, while remaining off the mainstream radar, has achieved cult status among industry insiders with invites to the London Fashion Week shows hugely sought-after.
Part of the brand's mystique lies with Yanagawa himself, having made the highly unusual, and possibly unique, transition from Japanese Olympic and then professional boxer to fashion designer. A hugely successful career change that he achieved with no formal fashion training. A change that he honoured when naming his brand John Lawrence Sullivan, a homage to the 19th-century Boston-based boxer, known by the soubriquet John L, who was the first heavyweight champion to win the title wearing boxing gloves.
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It's fitting that as John Lawrence Sullivan reaches its 20th anniversary, Yanagawa should look to that life before fashion for his latest inspiration. And no surprise that he should choose the iconic boxing brand Everlast to partner with for this anniversary year collaboration. Everlast being an iconic boxing brand, synonymous with the sport since the company's inception in 1910.
This collaboration isn't only a fusion of sport and fashion; it's also a melding of body and mind, the physical and mental strength required of Yanagawa the boxer being qualities that prepared him for that 360-degree transition to the world of garment design and the challenges he's faced along the way.
“It’s fitting that as John Lawrence Sullivan reaches its 20th anniversary, Yanagawa should look to that life before fashion for his latest inspiration”
Of course, the intermingling of boxing brands with fashion is no new thing, with labels like Everlast and Lonsdale having been appropriated by football terrace fashionistas back in the day. And neither have subversive streetwear designers been averse to tapping into this subcultural style, Milan-based duo JORDANLUCA having partnered with the aforementioned Lonsdale some seasons ago.
While sportswear has become such a ubiquitous part of our wardrobe that it has ceased appearing as a trend, this particular collaboration moves in a new and different direction. In this instance, Yanagawa hasn't incorporated the Everlast name and identity into his own avant-garde designs but has created and curated a selection of standalone pieces that are both gym and street wearable together with sports-specific equipment such as headgear and boxing gloves.
Steeped in the history of the game, Yanagawa pays homage to his heroes with an array of T-shirts and hoodies that bear the world-renowned nicknames by which the boxing deities of Ali, Hagler and Hearns were universally known. These are imprinted using a variety of techniques in iconic colours representative of those boxing giants, while sweatpants and shorts made from the same material as the hoodies exhibit the same design qualities. Black vegan leather boxing shorts also feature, which, while designed for the ring, would be equally at home at the rave. Boxing boots also feature, which we at Swift predict are destined to make a reappearance as serious fashion footwear. And there is specific boxing equipment for all, from the serious ring fighter to the gym class pugilist.
As someone who spent time as a kid in the wonderfully named "Jim's Gym", boxing has always had a fascination for me. While I totally get its detractors and their objections to the sport, it's a sport that's often-given structure to young people living structureless lives and provided a regulated environment to channel aggression that would otherwise be taken out onto the streets, one that's seen its core strength exercises incorporated into the fitness regimes of those of us with the most pacifistic of tendencies. And one which has provided Arashi Yanagawa with the physical and mental resilience to succeed in two very different careers.
Having inhabited these two worlds, Arashi Yanagawa brings an authenticity to this collaboration that no other designer could match. Having rolled with the punches in these very different spheres, Yanagawa quite understandably and self-reflectively celebrates John Lawrence Sullivan's 20th anniversary by combining his twin passions to gift us the perfect amalgam of sports and streetwear.
Everlast x JohnLawrenceSullivan Available from 16 June(Fri)
Many thanks to all at Agency Eleven for their help.
You can connect with the brand here http://www.john-lawrence-sullivan.com/ and here https://www.instagram.com/johnlawrencesullivan_official/?hl=en
Credits:
Production by @bianco_bianco_tokyo
Creative Direction @martaespinosa__
Gaffer @shiori0ta
Hair Stylist @hayatemaeda
Make up @yuka_hirac
Styling @martaespinosa__ @stclairbryant
Producer Assistant @negi_hime
Models
@sashakrvsh from @tokyo.rebels
@tedmaanicus from @wizardmodelsmen
