PFW: Yohji Yamamoto's somber poetry

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Mar 4, 2017

This was a singular vision of fashion today, whose influence will range far beyond its location in Les Docks, site of a performance space and fashion college IFIM on Quai d’Austerlitz.
 

The collection was created in combinations of taffeta, leather and wool, curled and twisted into eye-popping flight jackets, coats with asymmetrical tails and flamenco skirts with peplum hems. All worn by a cast of models whose hair was embroidered with wool crochet or metal chains and medallions – just like the invite to this show.
 
“Prohibited technique,” said Yohji in a classic sibylline commentary on his own collection, after rock celebrity Alicia Keys had raved about the clothes.

In an ebullient mood, when an editor praised the collection as beautiful, the designer pointed to a Franco-Russian couple and remarked: “beautiful people.”
 

It was all created in the deepest of blacks, except for the abstract expressionist leggings whose daubs continued onto tough combat boots, the latest trend Yamamoto will ignite.

Staged before twisting banks of seating in the industrial-style space, this was a quiet yet elegiac moment of fashion backed up by a rambling acoustic guitar blues soundtrack. “I composed it, I played it and I sang it,” said Yohji, almost more proud of his music than his clothes.