Like Alberti and Vignola did with architecture, junya watanabe has built a "clothing" language through historical research.
He has done several seasonal experimental works, like propositive essays, where he has understood and twisted to their limits classic elements of clothing. He was being radical and extreme.
Afterwards, like a scientific he has classified and catalogued each interesting find, building the syntax and lexic of this new reworked language.
A few seasons back, he felt confident enough to start building phrases. He chose a certain vibe to serve as support structure, this brogues and hat look some people now hate. It's just his dream of an ideal man, the missing part, he does not like industrial music, nor insect males, he likes things classic and silent and extremely well done.
It's completely pointless to judge his work now from the "theme" part, we were use to see change each 6 months. All the nice things are still there, maybe too disguised for some.
I find his menswear line, extremely unique and very innovative, his tailored pieces are sometimes a work of underrated art, with jointed parts, different materials in stress points, he also has a serious take on undersized yet confortable clothing (he's a hell of pattern maker)
Some of his pants are incredible, with very unconventional patterns, JW is doing very innovative pieces nowadays. Again, you can tell how the seat is worked on those pics, but it's miles away from your regular slim pants.
His reversible parkas and blazers, which are quite silent for a runaway are the most amazing sportwear money can buy, only upon closer inspection. Junya makes clothes for those who loves clothes, not for runaways, nor for editorials.