When it comes to the production of Kapital lookbooks, the only rule is that there are no rules. The latest effort from the Japanese brand takes us on a cross-country road trip through the American Southwest, where they showed off a wide selection of their upcoming Fall/Winter 2017 line. And, courtesy of Kapital photographer Eric Kvatek, we’ve got the whole thing here — including several shots exclusive to Heddels.
Taking us on an ideological journey along Route 66, this new collection focuses less on the major highways and more on the backroads and all who inhabit them. In typical Kapital fashion, there are more conversation pieces in this one drop than most brands will make in a lifetime, a category that includes parachute-looking denim trousers, classically inspired ranch wear, colored cowboy boots, and even some slip-on denim shoes.
And while the photos speak volumes, we’ve got a few words from the man behind the lens, to help shed some light on this trip:
“A Blue High Way is a local route, designated on old gas station maps with a blue line. I always hated the big dull interstates so when Kiro convinced me to do an American road trip photo shoot we agreed that we had to take as many small local roads as possible. Roughly following old route 66 naturally was in order.
The preparation and planning required that I drive the entire route in reverse so I set out alone from Los Angeles, inch by inch tallying a 6,000 mile round trip drive. The journey would ultimately include Los Angeles, Joshua Tree, Las Vegas, Arizona, Gallup, Alamogordo, Marfa, Bandera, Texas and multiple planned and unexpected locations in between.
While a huge part of the plan involved miles upon miles of my solitude, for the actual shoot I gathered together some of my most trusted and oldest friends… Greg in LA, Susan in Pioneer Town, Kyle from Durango, Mikko from Sweden, my local Brooklyn girl gang bartenders, Kapital’s supermodel Emmelie and Ken, better known as the Rugged Boss. One thing you want to have on this kind of job is a small army of solid punctual friends.
Kiro Hirata’s designs for this season are an eclectic mix of 70’s and 80’s hippie meets rock climber, kind of a Monkey Wrench Gang on an electric denim acid road trip. The South Western locations and the laidback natural entourage of characters perfectly captured the vibe of Kiro’s vision.
The myriad of locations starting with a longhorn cattle ranch in Texas, passing through the haunts of Billy the Kid, Navajo country, Area 51, Las Vegas and ending at Venice Beach is almost inconceivable in terms of a single cohesive fashion photo shoot. But by sheer will of determination and my shared vision with Kiro, I believe that we created something iconic and timely, something that Kiro and I are both proud to share with fans of Kapital, our old friends and people just now discovering the brand.”
All photos courtesy of Eric Kvatek.
