**Trailer:**
Step into the whimsical world of Ryota Murakami, the LVMH Prize semi-finalist and mastermind behind the Japanese knitwear brand Pillings. This season, Murakami takes us on a journey through a decade of creativity, revisiting past challenges and transforming them into something extraordinary. His collection is a celebration of imperfection, where shrunken knits, moth-eaten textures, and fungal-like ruffles come together in a beautifully bizarre symphony. With the help of contemporary dancer Un Yamada, the models move with haunting grace, their garments telling stories of tenderness and emotional depth. In the Pillings universe, the misshapen is not just accepted—it’s revered. Murakami’s designs are a testament to the beauty of naturalness, where the shape of the heart takes precedence over the body. Prepare to be captivated by a collection that’s as much about feeling as it is about fashion.

**Paraphrased Digest:**
Ryota Murakami, a semi-finalist for this year’s LVMH Prize and a rising star in Japanese womenswear, presented his latest collection for Pillings in Tokyo’s Shinagawa district. Reflecting on the past decade since launching his brand, Murakami focused on revisiting and refining techniques that had previously eluded him. The collection featured intentionally shrunken knits, creating unpredictable and wonderfully strange results. Highlights included moth-eaten blankets, crumpled cardigans, and dresses with organic, fungal-like ruffles. One standout piece was a black knit adorned with inside-out pockets, evoking a sense of unraveling, while another gray dress sprouted socks, resembling a pile of forgotten laundry. The collection also drew subtle parallels to Comme des Garçons’ iconic 1997 designs, with its irregular textures and lumpy silhouettes.

Murakami collaborated with contemporary dancer Un Yamada to choreograph the models’ movements, adding an emotional layer to the presentation. The models moved slowly, their hands delicately placed on their thighs or clasped at their chests, accompanied by ghostly music that echoed through the venue. The collection showcased Murakami’s technical prowess and his ability to infuse his designs with emotional depth, translating tenderness into wearable art.

The final piece, a sweater meant to resemble a castle, ended up looking more like a half-melted haunted house—a result Murakami embraced. He finds beauty in distortion and values the natural, imperfect lines that can’t be drawn with precision. For Murakami, Pillings is about capturing the shape of the heart rather than the body, creating a world where the misshapen is not only beautiful but magical.