Yohji, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Looser Fit (Yohji Yamamoto Thread)

[Ivwri]

Found this interview on NOWNESS. They interviewed both Yohji and Zidane on Y-3.

Yohji Yamamoto

How would you describe Y-3 as a collaborative project?
Distant DNA got married and had a successful baby. You have to [treat] Y-3 [like it is] an independent human. In that way the brand already has its own character.

How does the collaborative process between you and Adidas work?
Adidas is a very personal inspiration to me. It has enriched my creative life. Both teams are in constant contact and communicate continuously. There are many meetings to develop the collection together. It’s an important exchange between different cultures and different ideas.

Rest of the interview here

And this one over on The Fashion Spot by Claudia Riedel -

Next sentence: It is important to me to ...

Life, space. To be free. Not to have responsibilities.

But you have two children...

Yes, that's true. And I feel guilty towards them.

Why that?

I am sorry for having put them into the world. It's not their fault. Life isn't easy and the moment you find out life is real, you are condemned to fight, to suffer.

You yourself had a tough childhood, born just after the end of the war.

Yes this was very tough. How have our parents suffered! They have experienced a real, terrible war. My mother was a war widow early on, and therefore I as an only child always tried hard to be a good boy. Today it seems to me as though I had been acting all this time. To be good is not easy.

When did you stop playing the good boy?

Never. I still do. Right now, for instance.

Does your mother know what line of work you are in?

She pretends to do so, acknowledges may work, but never stops demanding: »You're the only son. You have to take care of me. I don't want to be alone.« She also works for my firm. We live a few feet apart. We see each other every day!

Read more: Yohji Yamamoto: " I Hate Fashion " - the Fashion Spot click

 

[Caveat]

Great quotes there. I know "to live is to suffer" is central to Eastern beliefs, but it's interesting to hear it coming from someone whose life's work is so full of life, joy and humor.

 

[Lane]

love what he says about fashion, its so repulsive at times.

 

[pickpackpockpuck]

What are some go-to places for Yohji footwear? The more I see the more I like. Ivwri, that pair you had on in your last WAYWT was amazing.

 

[Ivwri]



What are some go-to places for Yohji footwear? The more I see the more I like. Ivwri, that pair you had on in your last WAYWT was amazing.

They are great shoes indeed .

Well, the list on the front page is pretty representative of the various online stockists at the moment - I think. As for brick and mortar stores, I got those ones from Maxfields in LA. They didn't get that many shoes in for last season though. The flagship stores all over the world have a good selection of course, and it is possible that Barney's might also stock Yohji footwear.

 

[pickpackpockpuck]



They are great shoes indeed .
Well, the list on the front page is pretty representative of the various online stockists at the moment - I think. As for brick and mortar stores, I got those ones from Maxfields in LA. They didn't get that many shoes in for last season though. The flagship stores all over the world have a good selection of course, and it is possible that Barney's might also stock Yohji footwear.

Ah, right. Sorry about that. I always forget those info-packed first pages exist. Thanks.

 

[Ivwri]

No problem .

You also got me thinking about the shopping spaces, so, some pictures from Yohji stores around the globe.

Flagship store on Rue Cambon in Paris, France. Designed by Sophie Hicks. More info here and here. Images via Sophie Hicks' website.









Y's store in Tokyo, Japan. Designed by Ron Arad. More info here.




Yohji flagship store in Antwerp, Belgium. Designed by Wim Goes Architecture. Slightly more info here.




Yohji flagship store in NYC, New York. Designed by Junya Ishigami. Images from here.









Unfortunately, both the NYC and Antwerp stores (among others) were closed down when Yohji Yamamoto ran into financial troubles.

 

[Ivwri]

The "A blog curated by..." section on Yohji is pretty great actually. Lots of cool interview snippets, images and information. I am trying to resist buying the magazine edition curated by Yohji Yamamoto for an obnoxious price right now .

A friend of mine in Paris had two copies of the Margiela one and they were just tossed on a pile of magazines in his studio. I had to tell him that people were selling them for a pretty good markup on eBay for him to take notice of them again, lol.

 

[asobu]

 

[Nil]

Crosspost from the WAYWT thread of my first Yohji purchase:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Giuliano Fujiwara mohair cardigan
B Son
Yohji Yamamoto pour Homme - cotton with silk organza stripe down the side.
Fiorentini + Baker

I took advantage of some unseasonably sunny and warm weather and wore these pants I didn't thing I'd break out until spring.

 

[Ivwri]

That's cool. The pants look great there. I imagine they are not as 'shiny' as they look in the picture irl. Great shoes too. Shame it's not a clearer picture, would have liked to get a better sense of the details on the cardigan and the pants.

 

[Nil]



That's cool. The pants look great there. I imagine they are not as 'shiny' as they look in the picture irl. Great shoes too. Shame it's not a clearer picture, would have liked to get a better sense of the details on the cardigan and the pants.

Yeah, they're not so shiny irl. I tried getting more detailed shots, but ****** cell phone camera is ****** and failed at the close ups.

 

[3 Prague Winters]



Crosspost from the WAYWT thread of my first Yohji purchase:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Giuliano Fujiwara mohair cardigan
B Son
Yohji Yamamoto pour Homme - cotton with silk organza stripe down the side.
Fiorentini + Baker
I took advantage of some unseasonably sunny and warm weather and wore these pants I didn't thing I'd break out until spring.

I had the wool version of this pair of pants and , foolishly, returned them. One of my biggest clothing related regrets. I've been searching for the wool version in size 3 ever since.

 

[asobu]

Nil, they look great, fit is very good. I know the organza part is hard to capture in photos, it's definitley more a muted grey and less 'shiny' in person, and looks great in movements since it's made up of two layers of sorts. You should definitely explore more of this


Ivwri, sorry that was the only pic! I found it by accident from a japanese blog of some department store somewhere as they started selling ss12. I guess this is some promo pic, I'm surprised it doesn't seem to have appeared in many other places already.

 

[asobu]

Maybe we should get some archive stuff up in here!

A/W 1991, as far as I know, showed in paris at the end of january 1991 and then showed again together with CdG in Tokyo on June 1st and called "6.1 the men". Still one of the most talked about and coveted collections by Yohji fans in Japan from what I can tell, many of the pieces still catch quite large sums on the second hand market. The theme was "war", several musicians incl Charles Lloyd and John Cale (who also modeled in AW04 btw) modeled the show and apparently sang some antiwar song together at the final part of the show (the collection was created and shown during the gulf war). Some of the signature pieces was the leather jacket with women prints on the back (he referenced this in "my dear bomb" as well, when he talked about nose art of american fighter planes being pictures of "girlfriends and sexy ladies" when heading into battle), zipper jackets and Joan Miró inspired blazers


This is a great story from Ottmar Liebert about his experience when he walked the show, well worth the read

In 1991 the Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto, together with Comme des Garcons, was putting on the first men's fashion show in Japan and asked me to be one of his runway models. At the time Yohji prefered to use actors and musicians over models and he has also used athletes in the past. I flew to Tokyo from Los Angeles and was picked up at the airport and taken to a very nice hotel in Tokyo, which Frank Lloyd Wright had designed in the sixties.

The show took place in the olympic swim stadium of Tokyo, where the pool had been covered by a runway stage. On each end of the runway a huge wall was erected. Behind one wall Yamamoto was set up and behind the other wall Comme Des Garcons.

Comme Des Garcons: Dennis Hopper, Trumpet player Don Cherry and his son Eagle-Eye Cherry (a TV presenter in the UK and not yet the pop star), british actor Julian something or other, Keyboardist Morgan Fisher (who later produced the wonderful CD "Miniatures" to which I contributed a piece)...

Yohji Yamamoto: Charles Lloyd, Edgar Winter, a member of YMO (one of Japans most famous bands, which also featured Ryuichi Sakamoto)...

Yohji and his people treated everyone wonderfully. And then he made a mistake on the day of the show. Thinking we were all men instead of the stars some felt they were, he offered as part of the refreshments Japanese cans of beer. In Japan cans are tiny, they are cute and many of the guys probably thought that one couldn't possibly get drunk from drinking tiny cans of beer....well, if you drink a dozen of them you do get drunk, you know! And then a British pop singer asked a French rapper to turn down the crap on his boom-box and the French guy responded with his fist, which fractured the pop guy's jaw. While he was rushed to the hospital Yohji's people frantically searched for somebody who could wear his clothes.... In the end one of Yohji's French employees took his place and wore the clothes well. I felt terribly embarassed. Here we were in one of the great cities of the world, guests of a real artist, and these men had to get into a fight. What a way to repay Yohji's kindness! But fame is fleeting and karma instant.. I never heard from the British pop star and the French rapper again...

I remember how amazed we were at the Japanese audience. Some had waited since the early morning hours and yet, when the doors opened the first in line went to the last seat instead of claiming the best seat in the house. It was almost biblical....

One thing I remember about the show itself is that Yohji, who is a guitarist himself and also produced the soundtrack, had installed sound triggers along the runway. We were invited to step on those triggers, each of which controlled a different sound that would blast over the music. Car crashes, industrial sounds, drum breaks, glass breaking, guitar riffs etc...I also remember that the Brit who was walking ahead of me was drunk or high or both and thought that the crowd's enthusiasm was directed at him instead of the clothing...I remember three or four people helping me change into the next outfit, grabbing shirts, pulling on shoes...I remember the late Don Cherry walking around on the runway like a court jester and greeting the other Comme Des Garcons walkers...to be continued

from here


I personally don't have a large interest in most the clothes from this particular collection, but I liked this story and thought it was worth posting, plus it's an important collection in his career, especially this show with Kawakubo in Tokyo.



Now, there aren't many runway shots out there, but just as an example of some of the signature pieces from the collection:

These are just a few of the leather jackets shown and produced, there were many variations

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Here are the jackets worn on the runway by Charles Lloyd and some other dude

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Two of the Joan Miró inspired blazers

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

These blazers retailed for $1325 back in 1991.

Oh and my grail one more time - long coat, black melton wool fabric and silk-screen printed rayon lining

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!