From the days of McLaren and Westwood, punk culture has embedded itself in the world of fashion with bold statement pieces and subversive iconography. With a spectrum of influences from the original British movement to the Japanese crust punks of the 90s, Blackmeans (the name taken from the English phonetics for burakumin, the lowest caste of the feudal Japanese social order) blends traditional Japanese craftsmanship with signature punk and multicultural tribal motifs for a unique DIY style that has come to represent the current underground punk scene in Japan. Since 2008, Blackmeans has maintained relative obscurity with limited stockists and their sole store/workshop based on the outskirts of Tokyo, only open to the public for 4 hours on weeknights (6 hours on weekends). However, with the onset of recent stockists such as SSENSE and Mr Porter, the brand has found themselves on the forefront of the new wave of Japanese designers making an impact on the global fashion scene.

Tags: blackmeans, surfaced