Ujoh Fall/Winter 2024 Honors the Art of Bruce Weber With A Timeless Layered Collection

Text: Jesse Scott
Imagery: Gio Staiano

Back in 1983, the iconic American photographer and former model Bruce Weber shot 100 black and white photographs for Japanese brand Nicole, a series titled Men and Women, on New York’s moody Gilgo Beach. A few of Ujoh’s celebrity guests, for example: former Miss France Flora Coquerel, who dazzled in a tailored blue blazer, and Congolese-Belgian football star Beni Badibanga, sporting a ferocious all-black look that combined fur and silk, likely remember Nicole. 

Yet, founded by Mitsuhiro Matsuda, who along with the likes of Kenzo Takada and Junko Koshino defined the initial global ascendancy of Japanese fashion, its pragmatic yet romantic designs remain a permanent reference point within the industry. One of Nicole’s specialties was knitwear, making it an ideal source of inspiration for Ujoh’s founder and creative director Mitsuru Nishizaki. Nishizaki, who often works with monochromatic looks and a somber color palette, was particularly drawn to Weber’s 1983 photos for Nicole. He centered his Fall/Winter 24/25 collection on reinterpreting the sensuous and melancholic theme of these photos for a contemporary audience.

Through the Ujoh lens, the men and women portrayed in Weber’s shoot seem to find true “enjoyment in being wrapped” in cloth. Forget quiet luxury - Ujoh has created a new vocabulary of cozy luxury based on Weber’s photos. Whether wearing silky nylon taffeta, structured doeskin, or heavy wool, the models serenely glided down the runway, enveloped in voluminous yet meticulously tailored garments. Each Ujoh show emphasizes balance, calm, and harmony. Yet this season, the clothing seemed designed to have a comforting effect on the wearers as much as the viewers. A masterclass in layering, the looks were unfailingly chic and avant-garde while simultaneously seeming to protect their wearers with a cornucopia of elegant blankets.  

As expected from Ujoh, black was prevalent, particularly on the more structured coats. Yet, timeless shades of brown, grey, cream, and silver were also layered together in easy unpretentious elegance. Favorite looks came courtesy of a luxurious butter yellow and a dusty mulberry reminiscent of the faded grandeur of a royal court. The pastel tones were made all the more powerful by the fact that Nishizaki uses them so intentionally and sparingly, both in this collection and throughout his overall oeuvre. One model wore a magnificently draped yellow shawl over a plaid shirt paired with richly colored tan pants, a look also notable as a rare effective combination of plaid and pinstripes. Another model showed off a particular “asymmetrical symmetry” as a fringed yellow poncho-style skirt trailed beneath a short poncho-style jacket that was softly draped but rigidly fastened. 

The mood of Ujoh’s F/W 24/25 offering and Weber’s 1983 photos for Nicole is undeniably similar; the primary difference in tone comes from Nishizaki’s rigorous  attention to detail. 

From the frenetic series of shows this Paris Fashion Week, it was Nishizaki for Ujoh and Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli Ready-to-Wear that impressed the most with their meticulous focus on every single aspect of a garment. Buttons, belts, and pockets, at various points along the spectrum from functional to sartorial flourish, were used brilliantly to provide a rigid geometry and firm identity to even the most flowing looks. 

They remind us once again why Ujoh’s synthesis between tailoring and draping is second to none. While the Men & Women of Weber’s shoot may have languorously lounged in their knitwear, going wherever the wind of a wintry beach blew them, the Ujoh men and women have a clear direction in which to gracefully glide.