SS26 LAUNCH PARTY
I drove through Los Angeles like a woman possessed. Narcissist style. Sunset bleeding into smog, cherry lip gloss melting in traffic, brain rotting beautifully somewhere between Hollywood and Boyle Heights. Then suddenly — EMPATH.
A tiny kitten greeted me by the entrance sign like some spiritual familiar guarding Emily Arakawa’s universe. Up the stairs I went into the atelier. Body ody ody. Japanese glowing skin. LA summer sweat. Tokyo grunge restraint. Silk moving against the skin like air conditioning for the soul.
The EMPATH girl is a very specific species of woman. She loves soft textiles. Isn’t afraid of a pop of color. Minimalist but dangerous. Athletic but effortless. She gets attention without begging for it. She looks like she disappeared from a 1997 Tokyo street style archive and reappeared in Los Angeles with perfect posture and an espresso martini.
And then we entered Emily’s path. Or EMPATH.
First rule: the body must be tea.
The designer of EMPATH Emily Arakawa
EMPATH SS26feels like the girl who disappears from the party at 2AM and somehow looks hotter walking home alone under fluorescent gas station lights.
Japanese archival grunge stripped down to its bones. Soft minimalism with just enough destruction to make it dangerous.
Oversized cutout dresses hanging off the body like they survived a beautiful emotional collapse. Open backs exposing skin in that quiet EMPATH way — never screaming for attention but somehow becoming the only thing you look at in the room. Sheer icy-blue trousers hovering somewhere between lingerie and office wear. Tiny pastel tanks with low-slung skirts and exposed straps like accidental seduction. Black cigarette capris with glossy textures and butter-yellow belts that feel pulled straight from a Tokyo street style photo taken in 1998 on a humid summer night.
The palette stays cold even in the heat: faded yellows, washed creams, ghost blues, dusty taupes, black lacquer. Clothes designed for hot skin, silver jewelry, glowing collarbones, cigarettes you said you quit, and girls who know exactly what they’re doing even when they pretend they don’t.
The EMPATH girl isn’t maximalist. She doesn’t need to be. Her power is restraint. She lets the fabric talk. Natural fibers. Airy cottons. Silks breathing against the body. Everything cut low, slouched perfectly, hanging just slightly off-center like life after a long night in Los Angeles.
There’s something deeply intimate about the collection. It feels lived in already. Like Emily Arakawa designed these pieces for girls wandering between Boyle Heights warehouses, Tokyo side streets, and empty parking lots at golden hour trying to become themselves in real time.
EMPATH SS26 doesn’t beg to be seen.
It already knows you’re looking.
And honestly? It succeeds.
THE EMPATH MESH BEANIE GET IT HERE.
Entering the space there were espresso martinis by N.037 circulating through the room like liquid dopamine and the crowd absolutely did not disappoint. Some of the best looks and energy I’ve seen in LA in a awhile. The EMPATH crowd understands restraint, which ironically makes them the hottest people in the room.
Soft archival grunge. Tiny tanks. Bare shoulders. Low waists. Ballet flats. Silver jewelry. Everyone looked emotionally unavailable in the chicest possible way.
And yes, of course they were wearing EMPATH.
Everything feels intentionally lightweight. Designed for bodies in motion. Walking through Boyle Heights warehouses. Smoking outside convenience stores in Tokyo. Laying on apartment floors listening to trip hop while sunlight leaks through blinds. It’s clothing for girls romanticizing their own lives in real time.
EMPATH’s cutout dresses are perfect for the tatted girlies with angel faces and emotional damage. The open backs, exposed shoulders, and barely-there silhouettes frame tattoos like they’re part of the garment itself. Every piece feels designed to let the body speak.
EMPATH SS26 COLLECTION NOW AVAILIABLE HERE