Photographer Thomas Lizzi takes us backstage at CFCL, Clothing For Contemporary Life, capturing their Fall Winter 2025/26 collection Volume 10 during Paris Fashion Week. Days before the show, we met with Creative Director Yusuke Takahashi in their brand’s new Paris Studio. As he walked us through the collection we could see the evolution of their computer programming-aided knitwear technology that results in almost no waste and works with recycled materials along with an expansion into menswear that has developed over the seasons. In addition to CFCL’s knitwear created through the intertwining loops of a single, intertwined thread, this season sees new dying techniques and handcrafted detailing. More conceptual pieces include a knitted tube technique for a sculpted look that is also functional and completely unisex.
LINES: A Brief History by social anthropologist Tim Ingold serves as the basis for the VOL.10 collection, which reflects on the brand’s beginnings and reimagines the iterative process of making clothes entirely out of knitwear as «lines.» One particular knitted bomber got my attention “I was inspired by the industrial designer Ettore Sottsass from the 80s for the lines and the main colors of the season red and blue” Takahashi told us. “We also have new accordion pleats and a herringbone pattern in recycled polyester and wool. The newest innovation in this volume is metallic tube which has a convex effect.”
This year also marks CFCL’s 5th anniversary and the brand is currently preparing for its B Corp recertification with the goal of including reaching 100% usage of certified materials and achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. Recently, the industry has been under fire for brands cutting back on pledges, but CFCL is going in the opposite direction setting new goals for their third year of Be Corp certification. Takahashi explained “We need to get a higher score compared to the last time, that is what we are preparing for now. Everything is made in Japan, and Europe has very high regulation standards on sustainability. When I founded CFCL the industry was at its height in problems from human rights to pay gaps. I decided to first confront the supply chain, this is where the majority of problems lie, when we solve those, that is where the benefits are for people”.
CFCL made waves here with their Asics collaboration, and have expanded to handcrafted Japan eyewear brand 999.9 The brand already has a strong relationship with their customers in Korea and Japan where they have just opened a new store, now with the Paris studio, they will build that connection and conversation here in France and Italy, and hopefully will have a Paris Pop-Up in store for us later this year.
Photography by Thomas Lizzi for VEIN MAGAZINE
