Bright gray and white fabrics were paired with black to represent the contrast between light and dark. “My daughter went to a Bob Dylan concert that I couldn’t go to because of back pains,” said Yohji Yamamoto backstage. She told me the whole set was dark apart from a light on the stage and it made me think of contrasting darkness and light together.”
The collection’s many prints (of which there was one too many of Yohji’s face) were influenced by art books dating from the Middle Ages to the current day. He was inspired by the differences in the architecture and art of each period and wanted to create patterns that could represent all eras merged into one.
Despite building an oeuvre consisting mainly of black garments, Yamamoto has moved to include more color in recent seasons. When asked about this season’s colors, Yamamoto’s face brightened up as he explained that the red looks represented blood. “There is so much going wrong in the world; when I think of all these bad things I just think of blood,” he explained.
As for the text printed on the back of a long flowy coat that read, “Oh you look ugly,” he said, “I want people to appreciate the contrast between beautiful and ugly, I like my work having a rawness to it.” It’s not a new concept from Yohji, whose followers will remember that he once said, “I think perfection is ugly.”
Wide trousers, waistcoats, and coats were held together with stitches and enlarged safety pins, blazer lapels came with unfinished edges, and spare fabrics were sewn onto clothes like embroideries, ensuring Yamamoto’s edginess remained present in every piece. It’s very difficult to create unfinished garments that look well made. It’s a testament to Yamamoto’s design acumen that you can see the skill that goes into creating that balance between rawness and perfection.
