As a creative living and working in 2018, it’s impossible – and maybe even inexcusable – to avoid filtering the current social, political, and cultural climate into your work. For Tatsuro Horikawa, the founder and designer behind menswear brand Julius, this ability to channel the world’s darker side into his work is innate.

Having founded Julius in 2001 as an art project, Horikawa has always had one finger on the pulse of our collective cultural consciousness, and, for SS18, the designer pushed hard, holding the anger and frustration of 80s hardcore punk as a mirror against today’s fractured America. “The American hardcore concept depicts the current distorted state of the United States, says Horikawa. “With the rage I feel towards the current issues, I can relate to how the youth must have felt back then.”

See an exclusive editorial showcasing the Julius SS18 collection below – photographed by Tsutomu Ono and styled by Tatsuya Shimada.

Think Black Flag, Minutemen, and Minor Threat, those bands who delivered a clenched fist with thunderous velocity. A fierce pushback to Reagan, the Cold War and yuppie culture, these groups offered their voice to the alienated alternative. Translating this rebellious revolt through clothing, the SS18 Julius collection mixed military design codes with industrial tropes, technical harnesses, ball-bead chains and flannel shirts inspired by the outfits Minutemen bassist Mike Watt.

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