Yohji who?

I often think, Oh Yohji you were so right. To be more specific, you were so right when you said back in 2011, “People have started wasting fashion”. Those of you who know which Yohji I am referring to might as well stop reading now. Those who don’t, please continue.

I feel fashion has become so commercialized even in fields that were traditionally more artistic. Or at least, it has become so commercialized that we tend to forget that it is also a form of art. I guess this is probably because there is so much of it. And it is so much of it because it is everywhere, baring no knowledge or depth, and it is everywhere for consumption, not for expression – expression of personal taste for example.  Mind you, I don’t believe there is anything wrong with the commercialization of fashion. But, I do believe that the immensity of the frivolous commercialization is totally wrong - especially when it overshadows fashion’s artistic character. 

So, when I find myself drifting due to the barrage of fashion images, I bring Yohji Yamamoto in mind – one of its greatest artists. If you have not yet stumbled upon one of his posts this is no coincidence. No, it’s not that he refrains from the social media. It is simply that he won’t become commercialized and for decades now he will stay faithful to what his artistic mind will dictate.

Yohji Yamamoto is a Japanese fashion designer who along with Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake and more are, let’s say, the Japanese school of fashion (please go ahead and Google them). Born in Tokyo in 1943, his first acquaintance with dressmaking was next to his mother who was a seamstress. Although a law-graduate already, he studied fashion design at the Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo, where he later established his first company. Active and very fruitful during the 70s, it is no wonder that the following decade, such a genius fashion mind, would find recognition in the more demanding – compared to today’s standards if you ask me - Paris fashion circles, thus also worldwide.

 

I wouldn’t like to bore you with all his award winnings and partnerships in movies, the opera and museums (I guess now what I meant with “depth” before makes more sense). I will simply mention that in 2003, he presented his Fall/Winter collection in Paris three months ahead of the rest of designers and he explains: “I wanted to present in silence, with less people”. Please bear in mind that the influencer blogger tribe is not even in the scene yet. ..

But let’s focus on the essence a bit – his clothes. Although it seems as if he has not thought them through, they are actually quite complex. He wishes to present a different kind of femininity, rather a masculine one I’d say. First time I came across one of his designs I thought that those high fashion outfits could actually be worn and was happy later to find out that he wished so too. To be more specific, his clothes are essentially loose, I’d add deconstructed, in basic colours mostly, black being his favourite one, but also made from a variety of quality textiles. Some look like kimonos (of course…) and as if they flow on the models’ bodies. Last but not least, they lack gender, so maybe this is why they are so wearable.

Photo Source: HistoryOfOurWorld.wordpress.com

Following his course, there is one conclusion I have come to: he creates after substantial inspiration, thus, if you ask me, influenced by the right kind of drive in order for one to design fashion. His clothes are of the highest design as he is a true maestro. Since his beginning he has been faithful to his inspiration and fashion identity, and all it takes to identify his designs as his own is a mere glance. It is exactly that faithfulness and identification that in my opinion prove his value in a world bombarded of ephemeral and character-lacking fashion images.

Yohji Yamamoto by Neil Bedford