Why you should make friends with the Japanese designer.

Mr Junya Watanabe is a popular guy. The protégé of Commes des Garçons godhead Ms Rei Kawakubo, Mr Watanabe went on to forge a 25-year career under his own name. But rather than a lone wolf, the Japanese designer is today most noted for a string of collaborations. He’s rubbed shoulders with household names such as Levi’s, Nike and Converse, and always on an equal billing. In fact, his name usually comes first, probably because of the cutting-edge “techno couture” kudos he lends big brands.

The most recent recipients of Mr Watanabe’s Midas touch include dependable brands who had fashionableness thrust upon them: workwear stalwart Carhartt, for example, the image of which not so long ago seemed wedded not to burly carpenters but late-1990s girl pop groups. Never ever has Carhartt’s stock ridden so high – at least, not since skaters first put their weight behind the brand earlier that decade.

Elsewhere, brands who have seen better days; Karrimor, a once-respected Lancastrian camping goods manufacturer that for the past decade has been owned by the same discount retailer behind that giant comedy mug that lurks in the kitchen of every British office, Sports Direct.

While brands such as The North Face and Canada Goose have never been seen as anything other than purveyors outdoor gear with serious chops, their current elevation within fashion circles owes much to Mr Watanabe’s involvement in both – as does the current interest in hiking equipment as a whole, truth be told.

The designers latest output with both includes reflective band details – safety conscious as the dark nights roll in at MR PORTER’s London headquarters – pops of colour and in the case of this T-shirt with The North Face, very visible branding, taken from its archives.

And that to us is what Mr Watanabe represents: sure, a sprinkling of his designer godfather magic, but more than that, you, but a bit better.