"Bruised defiance" would make a nice subtitle for a Yohji Yamamoto autobiography. The designer, so instrumental to the rise of Japanese fashion in the 1980's, has fallen out of the center of fashion's conversation—and into bankruptcy and back—in recent years, but never given up the fight. Bruised defiance was certainly the look he courted tonight, when he sent out models with black eyes and cuts on their faces. On they soldiered, and so does he. But it was hard not to notice that, though the room was full, attendance among American editors was at an all-time low. (Retailers, for the record, were somewhat better represented.) Those absent missed a solid, likable show, the main message of which was volume: billowing, shortened pants, mostly, tied off at the bottom or gathered with elastic, complemented with two-button jackets or long, thin coats. The colors were unusually lovely, too, in combinations like salmon and orange, or salmon and creamy sky blue. Still, it felt like Yohji doing Yohji. A few more surprises might help to lure some of those editors back.
