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YOKE Channels Jean Arp for FW26 at BELOWGROUND Pop-up

YOKE has officially presented its Fall/Winter 2026 collection, titled "Beyond Form," alongside the announcement of its first international pop-up space at BELOWGROUND in Hong Kong.Founded in 2018 by designer Norio Terada, YOKE derives its name from the tailoring term for the pattern piece that connects and joins fabric together, framing the brand's core ethos: “Things connect people, people connect people, and people connect things.” For the FW26 season, the Tokyo Fashion Award-winning designer channels his background in fine art to merge sculpture with daily wear, drawing heavily from the surrealist work of Jean Arp.Guided by Arp’s philosophy that “nature knows no straight lines,” the collection departs from rigid structures in favor of organic contours and accidental form. Classic garments receive subtle, rounded proportions, while trench coats incorporate internal wiring that allows wearers to freely sculpt and manipulate the silhouette. Surrealist techniques also manifest through fabric bonding on glen check overcoats, capturing the visual state of loosely and casually positioned cloth. To translate this tactile concept to the runway during its Paris presentation, Terada placed self-crafted ceramics on venue seats, encouraging guests to touch the organic curves and experience the materials firsthand.Marking a major milestone in the brand's global presence, YOKE is bringing the collection to Hong Kong for its first international pop-up in collaboration with Gallery HBX. Hosted at BELOWGROUND, the installation will showcase the complete FW26 collection alongside an exclusive specialty piece brought over from the label's Aoyama flagship store. In an exclusive conversation with Hypebeast, the designer delves deeper into his inspirations and how he developed the concept for his latest collection.Hypebeast: For FW26, you translated Jean Arp's concept of “accidental beauty” into wearable pieces like wired trench coats. How did it directly inspire this collection?Norio Terada: For this season—the FW26 season's theme, I built the whole collection around Jean Arp. One of my favorite works by Jean Arp is a piece called "Torso." The other is a work where he tore up paper and let it fall to the floor, then took the shapes formed by chance and turned them into a collage. These two works were the inspiration for this collection.You hand-crafted ceramics for your Paris debut so guests could experience the collection with “both eyes and skin.” How do you hope to build on that tactical experience with this HBX pop-up?For our first-ever runway show in Paris, I wanted the audience to experience the beauty of Arp's curves firsthand. So I made ceramics from scratch, entirely by hand, and placed them on the seats so everyone could feel the curves while takin in the looks from our collection.Instead of flashy show pieces, YOKE introduces a subtle sense of unease to familiar daily wear. How do you balance that unique duality of being serene yet avant garde?YOKE's clothes have always been clothes for everyday life. I'm always thinking about how to bring artistry into them. Takin clothes people see everyday and adding a slight sense of something being off or working out which details to add is something I care a lot about. It's what I always focus on when I make clothes. With your deep background in fine art, do you approach designing a garment's silhouette like a sculptor shaping clay, or do you put more emphasis in traditional tailoring methods to dictate the final form?At YOKE, we make clothes in two ways. One starts with fabric, and thinks about the shape and silhouette that suits it. The other starts with an artist's technique, and thinks about how to translate it into fabric. Those are our two main approaches. Many Japanese-made fabrics are truly exceptional. Matching them to the image of the season's artist, then developing the shapes, that's the foundation of YOKE, and the core of our design.When designing a collection, do you believe surrealism and practicality can truly go hand in hand without compromising one or the other?Surrealist thinking has a lot in common with making clothes. For the past few seasons, I've made clothes themed around Surrealist art and I think that's what gives YOKE its unique character.The YOKE FW26 pop-up runs from October 19 through November 2, 2026, at BELOWGROUND, located in the Basement of Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong.Click here to view full gallery at Hypebeast