Yohji Yamamoto – Born to cross boundaries

Yohji Yamamoto He first appeared on the fashion scene in 1981, when he brought revolutionary designs to Paris from Tokyo, laying the first foundations for what would be known as later aesthetics. Since then, his name has grown like a “kite in the wind” thanks to the unique and fancy avant-garde designs, but the beauty is still present in every needle line. (The term avant garde is always used in the fields of art from painting, architecture, cinema, music and fashion. Avant garde is considered to be a breakthrough design school, pioneering in breaking the previously available standards of conventional beauty – Theo Styleguilde)

In recent years, he has continuously shook hands with famous brands from the sports segment such as adidas to luxury names like Hermes. We must also mention his own brand of Y3 branding with timeless items and sneakers produced under adidas control that put his name higher. Although it has passed the age of “old crossroads” but the name Yohji Yamamoto still has a great influence on the splendid runways of the haute couture to the dusty streets with a liberal street style culture.

The only son of a war widow, Yohji was born in Japan during World War II and spent his childhood without any memory of his father, who died for 1 year. after Yohji was born. His mother struggled alone to raise him and he showed his respect for doing everything as long as they could please her, including studying and earning a law degree at Keio University reputation.

His mother is a tailor and she has a shop in Kabukicho, a popular dining district in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. He applied to be an assistant here after graduating from Keio University, and this decision made his mother unhappy. But then Yamamoto realized, “I don’t want to live in a mediocre society,” he said. “So I told my mother about my intention to move to work for her after I graduate.”

Finally, his mother agreed to let him work at her shop, where he could learn from the tailors there. At her request, he also enrolled in the school Bunka Fashion College, Currently very famous as the cradle of such talented designers Kenzo Takada (founder Kenzo), Junya Wanatabe (the brand’s great designer COMME des GARCONS, own a product line of their own bearing the name Junya Wanatabe COMME des GARCONS), Hiroko Koshino (designer of the same-name brand, a high-end brand with pawning doors in Japan and London), Nigo (the founder of A Bathing Ape), Jun Takahashi (founder UNDERCOVER), Tsumori Chisato (designer of the brand of the same name, used to work with Issey Miyakeband yourself Yohji Yamamoto.

However at the time, “Bunka School is a school for young girls,” confessed Yamamoto. “It’s more like a class of pre-wedding preparation, flower arrangement, cooking and sewing than a class on fashion design.”

When he went to school, Yamamoto said that he didn’t even know that fashion design really existed. “I just want to make clothes, cut and sew.” However, besides teaching the basic skills of a professional tailor such as cutting, sewing, Bunka also brought the concept of fashion design to Yamamoto. , laid a foundation for his later frenetic designs.

His early days as a designer were not easy. After graduating from Bunka, he received a scholarship in Paris for 1 year. As soon as he got there, he noticed that the era of haute couture, what he had studied, was beginning to fade. “Saint Laurent Getting started with ready-to-wear products, ”recalled Yamamoto. “The timing of haute couture is coming to an end and the ready-to-wear era is starting to unfold.”

During one year there, Yohji was immersed in drawing and designing and constantly looked to fashion magazines at that time with the expectation that his works would be featured. After several failed attempts to persuade magazines to introduce his designs, Yamamoto became depressed, quit drawing and began indulging in alcohol and gambling. “I thought I didn’t have any talent at all,” he said. In the end, he realized that he had to leave before destroying himself, so he returned to Tokyo.

Yamamoto returned to Japan and continued to stick with his mother’s tailor shop. It was then that he began to discover his true voice as a designer. He hates the tight, sexy designs that come with vibrant colors for women, “I help my mother with the designs and dresses ordered by the majority of women, they are all tall, sexy, glamorous and feminine – things I don’t like at all, ”he said. “While taking the client’s measurements, kneeling on the floor to adjust the length of the lap, I thought: I want to make a masculine garment for women.” This is the fundamental idea that creates the later Yohji Yamamoto empire with revolutionary avant-garde designs for the fashion industry.

He describes why he used monochromatic colors in his designs: “The city at that time had many fashions, with lots of colors and eye-catching decorations. I think they are very bad. I think I shouldn’t confuse viewers with horrible colors. Instead, I was aroused by the way the cuts make the clothes more attractive. ”

Thinking about it, he started a small company that sold ready-to-wear products and attracted the attention of customers from big cities in Japan. His designs always carry delicate cutting techniques and restrict the basic vivid colors so that he can freely create with black and various fabrics. Besides, his designs could be used by women or men rather than the ones that fit closely and follow the standard body proportions in the fashion industry at that time. “I always want girls to feel safe wearing designs from Yohji Yamamoto.”

His initial success led his thoughts, once again, to Paris, when he began to believe that “maybe some people in Paris will find the interest of my designs”. So, in the early 1980s, Yamamoto went back to the “capital of light” and he randomly opened a small shop the same day he and his ex-girlfriend. Rei Kawakubo held the first show for COMME des GARCONS.

Without a doubt, this couple has created a fever in the fashion industry, now dominated by modern designs and daring cutting trends of fashion houses like Thierry Mugler good Claude Montana, people who, as Yohji put it – “were kings of the time”.

“My designs and the CDG both have a pretty far distance from their beauty,” explains Yohji. “To the Europeans our creations look dirty and ugly.” Despite receiving the chase from the Western high fashion world, Yohji Yamamoto and also COMME des GARCONS gave a spark of hope to fashion devotees looking for a difference and new on the floor. high-end runway performance. And the fusion designs that hold his thoughts and the charismatic East Asian lines are the response they were expecting.

In 2003, Yamamoto also pioneered another movement when collaborating with adidas to produce items that fashion and sport interfere with each other, with the intention of serving widely to the market. After two decades in Paris, he began to feel that what he was doing was starting to move away from his original direction. “I started thinking who would be using my designs? Because I haven’t seen anyone wear my stuff, ”he said.

Realizing that the world is still influenced by elegant high heels or brogue shoes, Yohji has joined hands with adidas to create Y3 to cater to the dusty street fashion fashions and what. what happened after that is history. For him, the adidas partnership was a way of experiencing the sneakers culture that was entering the United States at the time, and narrowing the gap between him and the consumer.

However, life is not always pink. In 2009, his career seemed to have bottomed out by indecisive decisions coming from the company’s business managers. Therefore, the brand was forced to declare bankruptcy because of the $ 65 million. He wanted to give it all up at that time because anger accompanies the fatigue of the current situation. However his daughter, Limi Feu (also a fashion designer), pulled him back and made him realize that a lot of people, from workers to employees, are dependent on the brand.

“They are the driving force behind everything from scratch. It was a difficult time, ”he admitted. “But when I think about it, I seem to be empowered.”

Looking at the fashion industry today, Yamamoto’s designs have always made a clear difference in the fashion industry too mainstream as it is now. They put money making first and started selling meaningless accessories instead of collectibles that carry the meanings and values ​​of their makers. “It seems that fashion designers are on the decline,” he said.

To Yohji, there doesn’t seem to be any boundary between the flashy runways or the sunny and windy streets. That makes the Yohji Yamamoto today, the only name that can make an U60 gentleman or an 18-year-old student talk with admiration. And only his designs, purposeful sloppiness, impressive layering style and unique cuts can make a fashion capital as harsh as Paris take its hat off. Respect.

Source: Compiled from BoF, Elle VN, Reddit, Highsnobiety, HYPEBEAST

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