Why street style is over, in the eyes of one of its original stars, and the menswear trends he’s seeing in Hong Kong and Japan

Long before menswear became one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram and young men started developing an almost obsessive interest in the intricacies of Italian-made shoes and Savile Row suits, there was Motofumi “Poggy” Kogi. While you may not be familiar with the dapper, Tokyo-based director of United Arrows & Sons, the in-house label from cult Japanese retailer United Arrows, the man is a celebrity in menswear circles.

Mobbed by snappers at fashion week, Poggy was a street style star back when the phenomenon had just begun and before it turned into the soulless commercial enterprise that it is now. He’s the poster child for a stylish cadre of Japanese men who are able to combine the best of Italian sprezzatura (nonchalance), British elegance and American swagger, reinterpreting it all in their own way.

On a recent visit to Hong Kong to take part in the second edition of Fashion Asia, Poggy was quick to dismiss his influence as an arbiter of style and the public’s obsession with street-style coverage.

“It’s a bit over, honestly. I personally find that I come up with the best outfits when I’m drunk and the photos that got popular were those,” he says, laughing.

“Coordinating outfits is something I used to do in the privacy of my home, no big deal, but then those pictures spread around the world. I was just enjoying it myself. And to be honest, most photographers, except for Tommy Ton, Scott Schuman and Phil Oh, don’t have great technique or camera skills and there’s too many now.”

It’s a typical complaint from those who, like Poggy, have greatly benefited from the boom in street photography and now find the label of street-style star a bit constricting. You can’t deny, however, that Poggy’s style sense is truly innate and far from a costume he puts on when the cameras are around.