Hanako Maeda’s Adeam is inspired by her own upbringing; she was born in Tokyo but grew up in New York City, and her label fuses the fashion she wears in both cities. “My own life experience does have this kind of duality between the eastern world and the western world,” she said.
For her resort 2025 collection, she decided to take a macro view of her own micro experience. Japan and the West have a long, rich history of influencing each other’s art: Commodore Matthew Perry’s opening of trade routes between Japan and Europe in the mid 19th-century led to the Japonisme movement after creatives like Edgar Degas and Eduoard Manet were exposed to their restrained, uncluttered aesthetic. Fast forward to the modern day, where Japanese bakeries often blend flavors like yuzu matcha into traditional French desserts. “This exchange of cultural ideas between the east and the west isn’t a one way street,” says Maeda. “You see French and European influences in Japanese culture, and vice versa.”
So, Maeda decided to pay homage to this historical relationship through her clothes. She embraced dusty, Impressionist-like hues for many of her Japanese tailored jackets and pants. Tulle skirts with frills—reminiscent of a Degas ballerina—are made in muted shades associated with the legendary Kano school in Kyoto. “I wanted to combine something romantic and soft with something that feels more structured,” she said. Meanwhile, a green mini dress feels like the sartorial equivalent of a famous Lady M matcha crepe cake, without being overly sweet. “I feel like it is a little bit more relaxed, rather than prim and proper,” Maeda added.
The designer also continues to play texture, rather than color, making a look stand out: knits are mixed with jersey, whereas a sweatshirt top has a tulle skirt underneath. “I played with a lot of different elements,” she said. It seems Maeda was all about mixing and matching—on literal and metaphorical levels.