The Spring/Summer 2026 collection from Hikari no Yami is called CHAPTER 9: THE INVISIBLE MAN. The designer, Jakarie Whitaker, says it is not an answer. It is a realization.

The idea for the clothes comes from two books: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon. The collection is about a specific feeling. It is about being a Black man in America. It is about being seen, but also unseen. Whitaker calls this invisibility a burden, not a superpower. It is like being absent in a place where you are standing right there. The clothes are a form of protest against this feeling. They ask the viewer to feel its weight.

You can see this idea in the materials. The fabrics are all deadstock and recycled. They come from old Japanese cottons, wool, and polyester. The only colors are black, white, and grey. Whitaker says this is a return to his own beginnings. The shapes of the clothes mix Japanese design with American streetwear. There is wide denim and patchwork. It breaks the usual rules of what fashion should be.

In the end, the name of the brand, Hikari no Yami, means “light in darkness.” This collection continues that thought. It uses clothes to talk about a hard truth. It is a realization, cut from cloth and thread.

Check it out below:

 

Photos by @apricomapix