24 posts tagged "Yohji Yamamoto"
In Paris, Toasting Ten Years of Yohji At Adidas
It’s been ten years since Yohji Yamamoto first collaborated with Adidas, a collaboration which eventually became the full Y-3 collection. On the last night of men’s fashion week in Paris, Adidas set out to celebrate the decennial at the city’s Maison des Métallos, where sneakers from throughout the partnership’s history were on display and a film the German label commissioned about Y-3′s Spring collection, Yohji Yamamoto: This Is My Dream, was projected on the wall. The Japanese legend himself was under the weather and couldn’t attend but his collaborator, Adidas Sports Style (a division which includes Y-3) creative director Dirk Schoenberger, was happy to hymn him in his absence. “Working with Yohji is working with one of the few iconic designers alive, basically,” Schoenberger said, praising his “unique voice” and the alchemy of mixing his vision of fashion with sportswear. Speaking of that admixture—what, then, to expect of Y-3′s next collection, which will be shown in New York in February? The creative director was shy on the topic. “I don’t want to give away too much,” he demurred. But those looking for a preview needed only look to another chamber of the space, where, on a mini-runway, models in groups of fives walked in place on embedded treadmills (a very clever combination of fashion and sporting, that). There were tailored pieces like a black blazer featuring sporty nylon sleeves and varsity-jacket banding at the waist and cuffs, and Fair Isle knits scattered throughout, whether as a soft-looking hoodie or the sleeves of another, blue blazer.
Flower Power
There’s been an explosion of florals and flower prints on the runways, and you can trust that if a trend is in the offing, Nick Knight will not be far behind. Case in point: The latest exhibition at SHOWStudio’s Mayfair gallery, Florist, which opens tomorrow. The Web site-cum-gallery project is celebrating its 10th birthday this year, and Knight decided a few bouquets would be a fitting anniversary gift. “Of course there is no better birthday gift than flowers,” he told Style.com. “When you think about it, so many fashion photographers were quite taken by flowers—Irving Penn, Robert Mapplethorpe and Baron Adolph de Meyer all trained their lenses on blossoms as a bit of a hobby. I’m not going to say that it is cleansing or anything, but….”
Vivienne Westwood, Yohji Yamamoto, Lady Amanda Harlech, Guy Bourdin, and Sølve Sundsbø (whose work is pictured) are a few of the celebrants to craft a floral gift—in any shape—to contribute. (Those shapes have taken the form of photos, dresses, head pieces and one-off objets d’art.) During the week, designers like Mary Katrantzou and Stephen Jones will also create pieces live, to be broadcast in real time from the Bruton Street studios. Knight has also snared the likes of John Galliano, Gareth Pugh, Hussein Chalayan, and Kate Moss to create their own interpretation of flowers, all to come during the winter-long exhibit.
No doubt a decade in the business is a thing worth celebrating—we’ve just finished doing the same ourselves, in fact. And Knight’s highlight of the past ten years? “Definitely, the SHOWstudio’s work in fashion films, which is still rather uncharted territory,” he said. “It’s an amazing knowing that every day there is something to create, something waiting to be invented. It’s a feeling that makes me want to jump out of bed every morning.”
He’s In By A Hair
There’s plenty of hand-wringing every season about the impossibly young, impossibly pretty male models that stalk the runways, looking pigeon-chested and years away from their first beard-hair. Those guys aren’t going anywhere, but it was a refreshing to see a little scruff (and more!) at Yohji Yamamoto (left), Junya Watanabe (center), and Jean Paul Gaultier (right) in Paris.
Japan’s Prodigal Son Returns To Show At Home
Japanese fashion maestro Yohji Yamamoto made a long-awaited homecoming last week, showing his Fall 2010 menswear collection in Tokyo after a 19-year absence. (Yamamoto-sensei sent a much needed jolt through the city’s style scene, after last week’s underwhelming Japan fashion week.) As the sun set over blooming cherry blossom trees, more than 3,200 black-clad fans flocked to herald Yamamoto’s return at the futuristic Kenzo Tange-designed Yoyogi National Stadium. Despite the clamor, this was still an intimate affair. Yamamoto’s daughter, Limi Feu designer Limi Yamamoto, arrived decked out in Dad’s clothes, while her friends Albatross played an eclectic interpretation of Japanese children’s folk music.
The models included some of Japan’s most respected writers, actors, and musicians: old-school rock icon Monsieur Kamayatsu strutted in pink, while camo-clad rapper Zeebra and actor Claude Maki high-fived midway down the runway and former national soccer coach (and avid Yohji fan) Philippe Trossier kicked a soccer ball around. “This is kind of a compensation for my absence from Japan for 20 years. I am Japanese, and I am sorry Japan—I forgot you!” Yamamoto said backstage after the show. The looks were classic YY, with his trademark black dominating. “My sub-theme was Japan and its future. Japan doesn’t have to compete for economic power anymore. We should put our energy toward appreciating our beautiful country,” he explained.
Yamamoto plans to hold a retrospective at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum in 2011, and will continue to expand in Asia, as well. But that’s business, and last night was personal. After chatting politely with journalists, he turned to his daughter. “So, what did you think?”
Thom Travels, Yohji Gets A Hometown Hero’s Welcome, And More…
Paris 1, New York 0. Thom Browne has announced he’ll show his eponymous menswear collection in the City of Light this season, taking a spot on the schedule’s final day. [WWD]
Tokyo 1, Paris 0. Yohji Yamamoto (pictured) moved his eponymous menswear presentation for Paris back to his hometown, showing in Tokyo for the first time in 20 years. Looks like the city missed him: 3,200 showed up for the presentation. [WWD]
The multi-talented Pamela Love tried her hand at both styling and photography in the most recent issue of Dossier. Looks like she’s taking shooting tips from her pal Olivier—call it the school of oh-I-just-snapped-this-as-four-girls-were-wrestling-in-my-bathtub. [Fashionologie]
And Rock & Republic has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Insert rough-economy sad-face here. [NY Mag]