The list of invitees to Yohji Yamamoto's Marais headquarters was much shorter than usual. Is he scaling back? Many would guess yes, judging by the relatively risk-free, commerce-friendly collection he sent out. Safe it may have been, compared with his more typically conceptual fare, but (with a soundtrack that included "Detroit Rock City") it was also remarkably fun and upbeat—and all the more irresistible because those are such unexpected adjectives to be tossing around at a Yohji show.
He opened with a fitted black shirt with a popped collar and puffed sleeves worn over a long slim skirt. Karlie Kloss' hair was teased, her long bangs partly obscuring a face painted white, with feathers pasted onto her eyebrows above bright squares of green. (OK, so maybe the hair and makeup weren't quite so tame.) From there, Yamamoto riffed a bit, showing boned single- and double-breasted jackets with (surprise!) miniskirts and long, crisp white shirtdresses unbuttoned over black shorts or skinny pants. There were a few side trips into black leather motorcycle jackets; a couple of black suits dotted with circular cutouts; a group of pieces tattered by lasers; and, finally, an abbreviated rerun of the whole lineup, this time in calico.
No highfalutin themes to parse, no tricky constructions. That might disappoint some acolytes, but retailers will be another story entirely.
