JOHN LAWRENCE SULLIVAN

ABOUT THE BRAND

John Lawrence Sullivan is a Tokyo-based fashion brand founded in 2003 by former professional boxer Arashi Yanagawa. Originally launched as a menswear label, the brand now includes womenswear as well. With sharp tailoring, bold silhouettes, and strong references to art, music, and politics, John Lawrence Sullivan explores new expressions of gender, identity, and strength. Each collection blends craftsmanship with conviction, pushing boundaries through a fearless and refined vision.

ABOUT THE COLLECTION

The latest collection by John Lawrence Sullivan is built around the shared sense of asceticism found in Nordic black metal and boxing – one of the main sources of inspiration of the brand. The collection takes the idea of “attitude” in both the physical and mental sense as a starting point. The key materials include leather, which protects the body like a second skin, and melton wool, selected for its raw, rugged, and durable nature. Metal studs are used not as simple decoration but as symbols of tension and rejection. They appear in accessories as a way to create boundaries and maintain distance from others. The color palette focuses on black to reflect Nordic nights, white to evoke snow, and silver with the chill of ice. Additional hues like brown and khaki are reminiscent of the atmosphere of winter forests. A signature silhouette in this collection is the crouching form. Inspired by military garments, the construction exaggerates the forward rotation of the sleeves. They are deliberately made large, thick, and curved forward to emphasize a protective, inward-facing stance. The shoulder seams are pushed forward with force, rounding the back and evoking the fierce, impact-ready posture of a boxer.

All images can be found in the official Berlin Fashion Week MEDIA HUB.