Yohji Yamamoto men’s fall 2020

Unquestionably the brand is an acquired taste that has developed nothing short of a cult following. This season one must take into account so much in terms of this presentation other just the clothes such as, in particular, the casting. 

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Mr. Yamamoto is a tailor. Obviously, but his clothes create more than just wearing apparel… they are in their own way … works of art. Consider the layering, both the simplicity and complexity of their design, the volumes and most of all the type of customer he attracts. He is not chasing a trend nor is he begging for a new audience every season ... he is true to himself and most of all he is loyal to his clientele. One might say, why fix what’s not broken.

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The coats and jackets are stand alone in the oceans of mediocre and trend-driven piles we have seen and then he takes it a step further by casting men who look like men, each one with certain aura rather than a parade of robotic prepubescent United Nations of anorexic  boys in daddy’s clothes, the styling is so Yohji-san ... from the hats to the scarves to the chains. One must dissect and examine what is put before them to fully grasp the allure of this collection.

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I tip my hat to his consistency and to his own brand of brilliance over these decades when so many of so-called more popular brands have come and gone. He is his brand!

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Yohji Yamamoto Fall 2019

Never a fan but never a hater...  there was something about this collection that struck me as being emblematic of this stalwart of Japanese fashion. He was one of the pillars of the movement and has never strayed from his vision. Ths collection “spoke” to me.

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Season to season the clothes are tweaked and massaged but always distinctively Yohji. The real question, if it matters, is do I understand it or get it? Simply said not!! It’s just about eye appeal and what strikes me as the evolution of the brand. 

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He is at once a tailor and one who surely understand how to drape; he is designer, stylist and all around Houdini of sorts who can twirl black cloth into the folds of roman statuary. The nuances are ever present and ever changing with little to no embellishment and I guess that’s what make him who he is and what he is.

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I guess what attracts me to him is that he is a designer in the truest sense of the word ... signatures and all and he adheres to his mantra and his vision season and after season with his interpretation and iteration of fashion that has nothing whatsoever to do with trend… one might go so far as to say he is a cult  leader much in the same way Chanel and Rick Owens are as brands!

Dries & Yohji Spring 2019 men's

This is more editorial/commentary than review but this needs to be recognized for so many reasons which only those who truly grasp fashion will understand and that is THIS IS IN PRAISE OF DESIGN! Designers who design without the pressures of conglomerates and empires backing them looking for the next big cash in ... They are the independents in every sense of the word.

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Both men have been designing for decades and both have, if nothing else, given birth to a cult like following that waits every season to add to their collection of each designer. This is not about trend, what’s in, what’s out and it certainly isn’t about designing for the moment. These cohesive collections are products of evolutionary brands that have been retained their integrity, their DNA, their vocabulary and their point of view since the start.

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Unquestionably, each of the collections is an acquired taste and yet season after season they can be referred to as “designers’ designers”... They are committed to their spirit and point of view. These are not collections that morph to the moment but instead interpret and massage each brand’s ”voice” when it comes to the business of fashion. 

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Sometimes it is not about what I think so much as how I see a designer’s oeuvre as a whole. I tip my hat to these men for staying the course of time and having a developed a core of retailers and clients who think they walk on water. KUDOS to these and others who have not forsaken their ethics to resort to the lowest form of fashion which these days is slapping a logo on something and thinking that’s fashion!

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Yohji Yamamoto Fall 2018 Menswear

This is what design looks like. The collection is romantic, nomadic, artistic, over the top, discreet, voluminous, poetic, audacious, bohemian, spiritual and slim and yet it is all so Yohji. In my mind this is what Rock Owens could be whilst he was a designer instead of an attention whore. 

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No way do I believe this has any really impactful effect on clothing sales but it serves as a reminder that there are still designers who design, who actually stand for something and mostly have withstood and outlived so much of the absurdities that now pervade fashion. The brand has DNA and the designer massages and strokes it until the desired end result hits the runway. 

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It is a rarity to see so much color and pattern  but it is refreshing and yet not out of place for a collection that at most times was nothing more than an ocean of inky navy and black.

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The tailoring is exquisitely rendered which is a hallmark of the collection and the designer stretches the limits of what one can expect from tailoring… actually rather astounding to the eye...