Limi Feu

PARIS, March 1, 2008
By Tim Blanks
Limi Yamamoto, a.k.a. Limi Feu, is in a unique position. There is no obvious parallel for a designer's offspring following quite so closely in daddy's bootsteps. But if Limi's designs reflect papa Yohji's, they also exemplify a new Japanese attitude.

The generational shift was most obvious in the way that Limi proudly showed her clothes on a posse of characterful Tokyo women, rather than on a parade of interchangeable Eastern European blond tweens. Then there's also the fact that, as a post-post-WWII baby, Limi is imprinted with a very different set of associations than those ground into the DNA of the Japanese main guard. Asymmetry, androgyny, and Edwardiana—all territory blazed by Yohji, et al.—were there, for sure, but she gave them a little girlish froth. Hence, a black knit micro dress, or a white Aran knit paired with matching mohair boots.

Limi was her father's daughter in the monochrome palette and the severe black tailored pieces. (Are Japanese children raised by fierce nannies?) But she also had fun with the proportions of bubble skirts and princess coats. Perhaps this strict-playful dichotomy is a byproduct of life in a (post-)imperial island nation, because Vivienne Westwood has been prone to something similar at odd points in her career. On the other hand, it was Ry Cooder's "Paris,Texas" that came over the sound system…so maybe what was sweeping through an apron skirt and a dress with a trompe l'oeil messenger bag thrown across it was more of a frontier spirit.

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