CLESSTE's garments are huge. And in more ways than one! This stuff is literally massive for one, with sculptural silhouettes defined by billowing pants and oversized shirting, but the scope of CLESSTE's wearables is also nothing if not big.

And the hype around CLESSTE's range? Well, that’s even huger. The question is why. And maybe who. Perhaps even where.

Earlier this month, as we noted, CLESSTE released gargantuan collared shirts cut from GORE-TEX’s WINDSTOPPER fabric. We urged people to move fast if they wanted a piece, which was clearly the right move since all the windproof shirting flew from shelves.

Then, on April 22, CLESSTE's partnership with fashionable Japanese skiwear sub-label +Phenix delivered more GORE-TEX layering pieces, including a boxy Harrington-style jacket cut wider than it is tall and a streamlined mountain jacket lined with ample waterproof zippers and shape-altering toggles. Again, everything sold out. 

This small Japanese label has clearly hit on a winning combination, GORE-TEX or not.

On one hand, you have the appeal of technical materials applied to unconventional forms. CLESSTE's WINDSTOPPER range creates a stylish paradox similar to thisisneverthat’s genius GORE-TEX knits and HAVEN’s GORE-TEX biker jacket, for instance, and the further you dig into CLESSTE's offering, the more clever contrasts you find.

Its range of preppy oxford shirts that releases May 2 looks like classic cotton but is actually formed from moisture-wicking COOLMAX fiber. The accompanying “mega” cargo pants are both extremely un-streamlined and genuinely functional with a mesh lining providing extra airflow in humid environments. 

Even with an object as quotidian as a plain white T-shirt, CLESSTE opts for supremely wide shapes and integrates utilitarian ingenuity through dry-touch polyester performance fabric and drawstrings to adjust the fit. These aren't just big clothes, they're big clothes with purpose.

Overseen by Ryo Takashima, the young fashion ingenue also behind excellent multi-brand retailer PLUS 81, CLESSTE is designed for the modern "city boy," to borrow a slogan from inimitable Japanese menswear magazine Popeye. These are wardrobe classics made new through volume and treatment — the denim is faded, the jackets are transformable, and the shirts windproof. Everything sells with the quickness, nothing is terribly expensive, and it all looks so darn cool.

This brand literally has technical-yet-oversized garms down to a tee.

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