Yohji Yamamoto

PARIS, October 1, 2007
By Nicole Phelps
Once again playing the masculine against the feminine, Yamamoto presented a collection of jumpsuits and hoop skirts. The first look out resembled any number of the all-in-ones that have appeared in droves on other runways—that is, until a closer inspection revealed that the crotch was somewhere around the knees, and the back was spliced and braided to resemble the model's plaited hair. After a number of variations on this theme, a few of which featured lacing at the sides, he offered a counterpoint: a loosely cut jacket with a frogging closure worn over a theatrical, blossoming tiered skirt. It was an apron, really; from the back it looked as if the model were wearing pants.

Exploring the show's dichotomy, Yamamoto used basic black cotton, metallic silver leather, and glaring bright (by his standards) floral-and-dragon-print jersey. The repetition was broken by asymmetric and poetic draped dresses, many of them shown with a jacket that was worn casually over just one shoulder, hanging slack at the back. The most intricate of these dresses came with silver chains that descended from the neckline to suspend the gathered hem at mid-thigh. And there were other pieces to admire, like a floor-grazing densely ruffled skirt, or a narrower one with multiple panels of fabric arcing horizontally around the knees. But in the end, this collection was less a trove of new ideas than a Yohji refresher course.