This year is a special one for ADEAM: 2022 marks the brand’s 10th anniversary. Thinking on beginnings of ADEAM, designer Hanako Maeda revisits childhood memories and her student days spent in New York, as well as the inaugural collection presented at New York Fashion Week. Hanako’s earliest memory of the city is of walking across Central Park, still in her school uniform, admiring the leaves that were turning color in the fall. The excitement that she felt at the time led to her dreaming of one day becoming a part of New York’s creative scene. Years later, Maeda debuted ADEAM at Fashion Week in Fall 2013, with a ready-to-wear collection that took inspiration from the iconic musical, “Into the Woods.” For Fall 2022, Hanako merges her childhood memories and ideas from Fall 2013 to create a special collection that combines dark academia and fairy tale aesthetics.

Luxurious Double Face Wool Coating and silky soft Quilting are cut in convertible outerwear pieces, not only offering wearability but multi-functionality as well. The Poetry Trench Coat in Wool Coating offers three looks in one—a sleeveless coat, a cropped shell jacket, and a trench coat, all with a double-faced finish allowing for reversibility. The Scholar Coat in Quilting also offers four options, but this time as a long puffer coat that can be styled with removable sleeves and removable hem—it can be worn as a sleeveless coat, jacket, or sleeveless jacket. The Chamber Cape, cut in the same quilted fabric, is a subtle nod to the fantastical world of Little Red Riding Hood.

In the academia theme, Plaid Suiting appears in minimal dresses as well as a deconstructed trench coat and matching bottoms that feature crisp knife pleats and classic workwear details. The large puff sleeves on the Novel Dress evokes romantic fairy tales, while the Chamber dress plays with architectural seam-lines.

The more delicate, fairy tale aesthetic is represented by fabrications such as the Japanese Crepe and Satin, which are offered in draped dresses and tops with dramatic ruffles in soft pinks, nudes, and deep gem colors. Similar colors appear in the ADEAM Monogram printed on a crisp yet soft satin twill, shown alongside antique-style floral jacquard.

Both sharp tailoring and soft draping details are found in the knitwear—soft chunky cardigans are trimmed with removable shirt cuffs and collar, and fine gauge sweaters are accented with soft woven hoods or sharp pleat details. Smart stripes on shirt sleeves contrast the soft knitwear giving a feel of academia, while tromp l’oeil pieces of a knit vest over a crisp poplin shirt look preppy and youthful. Soft cable-knit sweaters are also reimagined with convertibility, offering the wearer the option to style it as a cape or a pullover.