Nicencess: Good is Good

"JUST GOOD IS GOOd"

Establishing NICENESS in 2017, designer Yuichi Goh and his team implement an encyclopedic approach to clothing design, defining ‘niceness’ in creation, concept, development, and exhibition of the label’s garments. Fueled by a passion for clothes as they exist in culture and function, NICENESS fuses ideas from across the globe- incorporating bespoke and proprietary materials through a visual and tactile language to create garments that are truly unique. Every item is meant to be lived in and constructed so they can become useful and beautiful heirlooms. Each NICENESS collection’s concept highlights the impact of civilization’s mavericks while examining the utility of historic goods in modern context, allowing a new, all-encompassing visionary landscape each season. The Spring/Summer 2025 NICENESS collection, titled “The Art of Aesthetics,” will be NICENESS’ stateside debut, exclusively at Canoe Club. “The Art of Aesthetics” weaves the ideologies of three nonconformists into the timeless garments that represent their stories, promoting individuality and freedom in creativity. The collection develops a fresh dialogue by incorporating the DNA of these individualists to transform timeless staples, creating garments that feel comfortably paradigmatic yet radically new.

The first figure of inspiration is Oscar Wilde- the famed writer and dandy of the late 19th century- whose sole novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, portrays the battle between good and evil, weighing the importance of self identity through inner dialogue, society’s opinion, and the aspirational self. As a dandy, Oscar Wilde rejected societal norms and carved his own path, preferring the fineness of craft to new industrial shortcuts. Wilde discusses his thoughts on style-over-fashion in the essay that garnered his fame, “The Philosophy of Dress”. Wilde pioneered the Aesthetic movement that birthed the idea of art for art’s sake. NICENESS embodies Wilde’s ideals in a number of ways. 

The LAROCHE shirt features pintucks which came into fashion in Wilde’s time. Pintucks were incredibly laborious and, despite providing no additional utility, they acted as a signal between the turn of the century dandies, exemplifying their great taste. NICENESS catapults the LAROCHE shirt to present time, giving the shirt a rougher, more casual finish and an oversized fit, making it ideal for day-to-day wear.  

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, there is an entire chapter dedicated to unpacking the fineness of ecclesiastical garments. NICENESS flips this with the S. FREEMAN and S. PARADA by reinterpreting  ubiquitous fleece sweatshirts in a luxurious silk with details recalling the first iterations of the crewneck and quarter-zip on 1920's and 30’s Ivy League campuses . The double front pattern of the S. FREEMAN is also a focus for NICENESS, allowing it to be worn in either direction. Reversible and modular garments are a hallmark of their designs. 

The second muse in The Art of Aesthetics is Ernest Hemingway. The WW1 veteran-turned-author, and resident tough-guy of the Lost Generation was famous for his adventurous lifestyle and distaste for unnecessary babbling. Hemingway’s prose was prized for being candid and blunt. His syntax has been endlessly dissected and discussed second only to his adventures and mentality. After surviving shrapnel, plane crashes, and many of life’s unexpected hardships, Hemingway sought thrills. Big game hunting and fishing came naturally to him. Hemingway encapsulated the ideas of resilience, fearlessness, and exhilaration.

The cutting away of the unnecessary tied to the need for adrenaline is on full display in the MONDO and SLACK. The MONDO is a rendition of the English hunting jacket, incorporating an adventure-ready throat latch tab atop the lapel with a rugged neppy wool chambray injected with silk for a defiant luxury. The tailoring is reminiscent of a lounge jacket, offering an easy-wearing and relaxed feel that would have suited Hemingway perfectly on his escapades. Both the cuffs of the MONDO and hem of the SLACK serve as perfect examples of Hemingway’s efficiency and efficacy. The coordinated V cutouts trim the excess buttons and fabric for a modern and innovative tailoring approach. 

The travel ready D. MARTY is a shoulder bag made of the finest deerskin whose cover features a natural edge, alluding to Hemingway’s ruggedness. The leather also produces a creaking sound as it is carried and has a beautiful grain, softness, and resilience, paying homage to Hemingway’s outdoorsmanship.

Jiro Shirashu concludes the collection’s muses with what may be the most impactful inspiration of the season. Jiro Shirashu was the liaison between the Japanese cabinet and the American Occupation following WW2. Shirashu fought for dignity, merging Japanese and American influence in an incredibly difficult time. Leveraging his Western education and Eastern values, Jiro Shirashu famously demanded General MacArthur’s respect when receiving a Christmas gift from Japanese Emperor Hirohito. He bravely insisted the present belonged on a table rather than the floor as MacArthur proposed. Along with diplomacy, Shirashu had a knack for fashion and a love for luxury cars. He was allegedly the first notable Japanese person to be photographed wearing jeans. He also established himself in the Henry Poole Hall of Fame after paying in cash for four bespoke suits and two jackets in 1953. 

The Art of Aesthetics ties together Jiro Shirashu’s identity in the bandana motif featured on the CHAO and PAT bandana scarves. For this, NICENESS traveled into the heart of India in search of pre-industrial craft, desiring beauty in a method of printing that shows the human touch and skill required to make artisanal products. There they found a manufacturer with a hand screen block nine times the size of a standard bandana, allowing for a much more intricate design. NICENESS drew a unique combination of motifs that speak to the spirit of Shirashu. Incorporating iconic Americana symbols like paisley with traditional Kimono motifs, including native Japanese plants and animals, they formed wearable scarves with a unique identity of cultural amalgamation. Because Shirashu was known for his tailoring, it only makes sense that these bandanas contain silk so they can be worn on any occasion.

The H. IGGY also bridges the divide between Japanese and American aesthetics. Featuring the lionized details of denim’s golden age, including a buckleback cinch, deerskin leather patch, and a relaxed but almost cropped fit, this jacket first appears to be unmistakably American. It’s only when you notice the room in the arms and the placement of the seams that you realize the pattern of the jacket, intrinsic to how it wears, is totally different from any other denim jacket. This is because the H. IGGY was cut on a flat pattern similar to a kimono. The two dimensional blueprints of the H. IGGY combined with the rigidity of the bespoke cotton/hemp denim will allow its form to take shape over time, making it a jacket unique to the wearer and guaranteed to age beautifully.

If you look closely, you’ll see the impact of each of the season’s seminal figures in every design. With the bridging of Eastern and Western culture, this couldn’t be a more fitting collection to have as NICENESS’ debut in North America.