The Yohji Yamamoto show ended with four pairs of models swapping their long black coats, reversing them so the purple lining of the interior was on the outside, and buttoning them back up. On the surface, the black coats looked more or less the same, with some variation in the collars; on the inside, the purple linings were quilted in different ways: horizontally, vertically, diagonally. Depending how you looked at it, the earnest exchange of coats spoke to a longing for communion or to the hidden mysteries we usually keep tamped down within us. Maybe both.
A Japanese speaker said the songs on the soundtrack, at least one of which was performed by the designer himself, addressed melancholy and nostalgia. That fits with Yamamoto’s comment post-show: “Inspiration comes out naturally because I’m getting old, so I’m rushing,” he said. At 81, he’s a full 10 years younger than Giorgio Armani, but nonetheless, he’s up there, and he’s seen a lot.
Like his men’s show in January, this women’s outing had a strong focus on outerwear, but where at that one he played against type, sending out conventional puffers, the coats here were more in the spirit of Yamamoto that we’re familiar with: swaddling silhouettes, assemblages of mixed materials, twisting integrated scarves, and complex deconstructions that looked like three-dimensional puzzle pieces. Some were finished with patch-worked corsets, not to shape the body, it was clarified backstage, but to bring the fabric closer to it. Everything came out on flat shoes, grounding even his most elaborate imaginings in real life. You could imagine seeing this woman walking down the street in Paris or New York, you want to.
Other coats were embellished with geometric shapes in white or purple, with squiggly cords crossing the torso, giving the wearer the look of a walking piece of abstract art. For all their nuance, there’s an unchanging quality to Yamamoto’s designs; the seasons blend into years blend into decades, and the clothes aren’t yoked to any passing trend or persuasion. He is a man who is utterly himself.
