This Is What Disappointment Looks Like - Kapital Spring/Summer 2020

Video capture from @Kapitalglobal Instagram account

Those that know me know I've long been a huge fan of Kapital. You'll often find me in a ring coat on any day the weather will permit it, I still get the same "wow" feeling every time I pick up a pair of Century denim, and for years I've looked forward to Kapital's seasonal lookbooks. To this day, I'd say Peace Pilgrim and Santo Domingo rank among my favorite collections of all time across the breadth of menswear, bar none.

However, Kapital's recently unveiled Spring/Summer 2020 collection is shockingly bad, and that's only in part because of the clothes.

Kapital has long been known for their masterful reinterpretation of garment design from various peoples and subcultures. Characteristically zany and unexpectedly diverse in design aesthetic, the brand has amassed a loyal following from guys into everything from classic menswear to more directional streetwear. It comes as a huge surprise then, to find that the Spring 2020 collection is inexplicably rife with crude Asian stereotypes, presented in a way that leaves little room for alternative explanation. Let me be clear - the problem with this has nothing to do with cultural appropriation. Numerous brands, especially Kapital, have been successful with the incorporation of Eastern design with Western garb. And it would be easy to chalk up some of the snapshots from the Spring lookbook as benign in isolation until you get moments like these, which were recently published by Kapital's official account.

There's a lot of discussion and backlash these days from people tired of "political correctness" and "snowflake culture," terms I've seen levied at this specific topic as well. Honestly, that's probably partly due to instances which are benignly-intentioned but unwittingly offensive to a minority group. Unfortunately, at times these are jumped upon by a very vocal and angry group of people hell bent on doing nothing but shaming and condemning the subsequently confused and bewildered party in question. I get that it can be draining to live in a world where seemingly anything and everything is questioned as being potentially offensive, where people seem to lying in wait for you to do something wrong. In fact, I'd bet Kapital had no ill intentions at all in this case and would be genuinely surprised people have issues with it.
 

Satirical modern cartoon character named "Cousin Chin-Kee" from "American Born Chinese" graphic novel

However, those complaining about political correctness and being overly sensitive usually find themselves defending the act of someone else being put down, marginalized, or alienated. I grew up throwing around terms like "faggot" and "gay" as everyday insults, as did all my friends and people around me. This was in a large metropolitan city as well, not a small, homogeneously white town. Looking back, it's incredibly embarrassing to admit, but I just didn't know any better. No one said a thing. Not even once. I can only cringe at what it must have felt like to actually be gay. There are those that would claim using terms like "retard" and "faggot" are fine even today, quoting the same snowflake culture and oversensitivity as justification. Those might seem obvious to us today, but they weren't until very recently.

Aside from all of that, the collection just isn't very good. It's not just that Kapital has changed gears. Radiohead did it successfully, so did the Beatles. In menswear, look at Antonio Ciongoli's body of work over the last five years. But in their new direction, Kapital has arguably lost much of what made it extraordinary without gaining much in return. "Old" Kapital, if you will, managed to create a believable alternate universe where garments played with proportion, material, and the intersection of Eastern and Western cultural design, and they did so with a nuanced and masterful hand. It had an unbelievably organic feel to it. This new collection largely misses that mark.

At the end of the day, though, I'm not saying I'm done with Kapital. Everyone deserves a second chance. I'm not even mad, even. I'm just...

disappointed.