ssstein Spring/Summer 2026 / SS26 at Paris Men’s Fashion Week
Subtlety lies at the heart of ssstein’s aesthetics. “Our 2026 Spring Summer collection is even more subtle than ever”, says Kiichiro Asakawa, the Japanese brand’s founder and creative director. He recalls, “Flipping through a photography book of Corinne Day, I was drawn by the beauty of subtle, soft shades that were captured through her lens. It was the image of a piled-up knitwear. They were shimmering in the ray of light. The image blew me away”. In fact, photography is his forever inspiration. Other names, such as Mark Borthwick and Anders Edström, his favorite photographers, allude to his penchant for a low-key yet assertive allure. However, as he doesn’t work with moodboards, there are no photographs pinned to the wall of his studio. Instead of bringing up obvious references to the images, he interprets the aroused emotion via meticulously developed materials.
Enriching his design vocabulary, Asakawa creates or resources, in an almost maniacal manner, a sophisticated weaving until he reaches the desired nuance. As a result, even basic palettes such as black, grey, taupe or brown, come up with an incredible depth. An original cotton-rayon mix fabric is delicately iridescent, because the tonal difference between warp and weft thread is extremely subtle. For a wild side, Asakawa opted for the sulphur-dyed and washed out fabric. Then he added an unusual finish to it with two different pigments: one is sprayed over and another was rubbed in by hand. Leather is not excluded to his experimentation. A cow leather became an uneven brown through oil-rubbing. For shirts and delicate knitted tops – as thin as gauze –, his desire for half-tones was expressed more directly. Their palettes vary from powder blue, soft mint green to butter yellow. While knitwear is accentuated by poppy red. Seeking an exact intensity for this colour, he tried different gauges over and over.
Regarding silhouette, Asakawa played with variations of his signature pieces and basic staples. For instance, a range of “docking” coats (an inner long gilet and an outer part are attached at the bottom) added a new style: stand fall collar coat. A flight jacket has two offers for the waist line, either pulled in with rib knit, or simply gathered. Tailored coats and blazers are more laidback than previous seasons, with very thin padding allowing subtly rounded shoulders. While the trousers count new designs. One is of an arched shape, another has twisted hems. In response to growing demand from women, the ssstein 2026 Spring Summer collection now includes more items in size XS.
About ASIA, Renowned violinist ASIA (artist-in-residence at Cité des Arts in Paris since 2023) received an exceptional musical education at the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, supported by the Albert Cooper Trust and the Henry Wood Trust. ASIA began her musical career at the age of four at the Conservatori del Liceu de Barcelona, and graduated with the highest qualifications. She has performed in prestigious venues across the world such as the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the National Theatre in Shanghai, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, St. Martin in The Fields London, Düsseldorf Cathedral, Opera Bastille in Paris, or Buckingham Palace in London.cAsia regularly visited violin legend Ivry Gitlis in Paris, from whom he received advice on many occasions. Keen on interdisciplinary collaborations, Asia also develops her work in composition during her Paris residency exploring the convergence of classical and electronic music. Some of her recent engagements are the presentation of her operetta ASIA X, collaboration with Aho Ssan for Radio France and Art Basel Paris, Aire live show for Mira Festival Barcelona, Recital at Fundació Joan Miró, China Tour with Evelyne Berezovsky – 12 duo concerts – in China, Love Theme with Juaki Pesudo – 108 Days by Lydia Ouramahne – MACBA Barcelona. Asia plays a 1742 Genaro Gagliano violin kindly loaned by a private benefactor. @asia.violin @delgesv
About ssstein, Since 2016 SS season, Tokyo-based ssstein is much praised for its modern tailoring and polished casual attire. Its first runway show took place during Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo for the 2023-2024 AW season. The brand was honoured with FASHION PRIZE OF TOKYO 2025. For its second runway show in Paris, 2026 SS collection offered both men’s and women’s looks. Its international stockists include Andreas Murkudis (Berlin), L’Eclaireur (Paris), among others.
About Kiichiro Asakawa, An alumni of Tokyo Gakugei University, Kiichiro Asakawa is a self-taught designer. His first job in fashion industry was sales assistant at Naichichi, the multi-brand store in Tokyo. During six years spent there, he was so curious about garment’s construction that he often took apart vintage pieces from the store. The closure of Naichichi in 2016 turned to be the beginning of a new chapter for Asakawa: His own store Carol was born. Besides edgy designer clothes, at Carol, he offered pairs of vintage Levi’s 501 jeans that could be specially adapted to each customer’s unique morphology. This project’s success led him to launch ssstein the following year, with just three trouser designs. Two seasons later, he developed the brand into a full collection, adding tops and coats. As a photography amateur, the direction of campaign image is also his area of artistic expressions.
All images ssstein SS26 / Spring/Summer 2026 by the brand. PR Agency Romcom Global. Credit runway pictures © Shun Mizuno, Hirokazu Ohara and Hisashi Shimizu.