It's a bird... It's a plane... It's Bamba strutting in for this year's GR⚡️D GALA!
(crossposted on Twitter here)
As per usual, closeups and my giant essay of a design process writeup can be found under the cut:
Behind the Design
This year's theme of 'Celebrating Heritage' was super interesting to explore, in part because Bamba's (and the Ryusoulgers as a whole) whole thing is that he's centuries old and from a really isolated tribe that now has to interact with the modern, outside world. So going into it, I knew I wanted to take aspects of traditional Japanese fashion and modernize it for his gala look.
In terms of fashion designers and brands, I had three big inspirations:
The goat Yohji Yamamoto (No specific collection. Just all of it.)
Sacai, specifically the Women's Spring 2026 Collection
Hare, specifically the 2023 S/S Collection
All three are Japanese fashion brands that do a lot of interesting stuff with layering and texture and shape!
As the Black Ranger of the crew, Bamba... wears a lot of black. There's a pretty famous quote from Yohji Yamamoto on the color black that I think fits Bamba well, and I wanted to craft a look that, while had silver and gold elements to call to his RyusoulBlack look, was predominantly black in color with heavy focus on layering. I also wanted it to be practical to move in, if only because I think it's something he would ask for if he was a real client.
“Black is modest and arrogant at the same time. Black is lazy and easy and mysterious. It can swallow light or it can make things sharp. But above all, black says don’t bother me.” - Yohji Yamamoto
Now that we have that established, let's move on to closeups!
A Closer Look
So many layers, so little time... where to start?
The look is pretty simple on the top half: It's a mesh tank top paired with a silver sleeveless Kimono top, with a bonus armband on his right arm! I did experiment with giving him sleeves, but I preferred the silhouette without.
Allllll of the layers are in the waist/midsection area. We have:
A modern twist on the traditional Obi, it's now been replaced with a corset belt
A long Haori coat with an inner silver lining. Normally this would be worn over the Obi, but I liked the idea of having it underneath and spilling over instead to create more texture
A bracer meant to be an asymmetrical match to the aforementioned armband. And it calls back to the bracers Bamba wears in his standard outfit!
Beaded waist chains. These are there both because I think they're cool and because the Inro and Netsuke need something else to attach to now that the Obi is a giant corset belt
A black and gold Inro pouch with Bamba's necklace design (created through the maki-e lacquer technique), attached to a silver Kishiryu MilNeedle Netsuke
And last but not least, the bottoms!
Gradient Hakama pants with silver lining at the ends (fun fact: Yohji Yamamoto is one of the first few designers to introduce Hakama to the larger fashion world!)
The cane that he's holding is in fact a Shikomizue: a concealed sword disguised as a cane. It usually looks way more subtle, but I've glitzed it up for the gala with more lacquer and gold
I had a very particular vision for his shoes. He's wearing the Maison Margiela Tabi Knee-High Boots in black (Can you tell I spent a very long time drawing and rendering these shoes?)
That's all folks!
If you've made it all the way here, congratulations! As thanks, I leave you my second favorite Bamba thing I've ever made:
Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger but every time Bamba is on screen sexyback plays and every time Canalo is on screen el muchacho de los ojos tristes plays
FINE DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND HERE IS THE BAMBA SEXYBACK EDIT BUT EL MUCHACHO DE LOS OJOS TRISTES ALSO PLAYS EVERY TIME CANALO IS ON SCREEN
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