The original post is located at wwd.com
After some four decades in fashion, Yohji Yamamoto is still chasing the same thrill: novelty.
“When I start designing, I want to do something new — for me,” he said backstage after his spring show on Friday.
Never one to look back at his own work — “I hate it,” he said backstage, not for the first time — he instead set the repertoire of “old couturiers” like Gabrielle Chanel, Cristobal Balenciaga and Hubert de Givenchy on a collision course with one another.
Glimpses of that little black jacket, this front-buttoned evening dress or those sculptural volumes appeared throughout the collection. There were even polka dots.
In a season that’s all about identity, his was on full display and he delivered it all in black, save for sparse white accents, a most exacting palette that brooks no approximation. (And he’s tired of color in case you’re wondering.)
While steeped in classical references and tailoring traditions, the collection felt at once sensual, rebellious and keyed in.
Follow the way looks were sliced apart then reassembled into fresh proposals, and one had a taste of the process — plus that newness he’s after.
Bookending the show were demure skirt suits and softly sensual black gowns. Along the way there was a deceptively simple jacket cut from organza; a double-breasted suit with basting still visible, highlighting construction; blowsy ruffled numbers made more graphic than romantic by their high-octane crinkling.
Near the middle, he dropped tailored vests and trousers adorned with metallic chain belts bearing peace signs, hearts and his initials. Those felt like rebellious youth crashing an upscale shindig and doubled as a nod to his proclivity for music that saw him in the recording studio recently.
“I just wanted to make some young people looks,” he said with a chuckle. Yamamoto is never one to pass on a quip. Asked if the flashes of skin through lace, strategically placed slits, or circular motifs on tights were about that too, he explained they were his way of adapting to warm-weather dressing.
“Summer became too hot, so I wanted to fight against the weather,” he said. Youthful — and useful, too.
For more PFW reviews, click here.
