Y-3
REVIEW
COMPLETE COLLECTION
NEW YORK, September 8, 2007
By
Under the High Line as it sails through Chelsea, Adidas created a whole microclimate to mark its latest collaboration with Yohji Yamamoto. There was thunder, there was lightning, there was lashing rain, with water streaming down ancient brick walls behind the bleachers on which the audience sat… in other words, a whole lot of sound and fury. And what did it signify? Well, Shakespeare would have said nothing, but he was mercifully unaware of the overwhelming power of The Brand in this day and age. After all, The Brand could make it rain on a sunny late-summer's day in New York when there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Y-3, the baby that Yohji and Adidas birthed, has matured—it's now five years old!—into its own distinct style statement: an unlikely combination of Japanese fashion cerebralism and German technological expertise.Inevitably, the collection is most interesting when it's most reflective of Yohji's sensibility. Here, for instance, there was a cupro jacket, and some printed rayon pants that could have stepped straight out of a Yamamoto collection. Besides that, there has always been a curiously fundamental compatibility. The ease of high-performance sportswear gels with Yohji's manipulation of traditional Japanese workwear: pull-on pants, drawstring waists, even a voluminous duster. Beyond such conceptual subtexts, there was enough primary-colored workout wear in this collection to keep trendy gym bunnies happy around the world. And the accessories—which were ultimately the reason why Adidas could afford to subject West 22 Street to its own private typhoon—were covetable, especially in silver.
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