Originally posted by Fashion Wire Daily Paris July 6@ 2003
Yohji Paints a Beautiful Picture
By Godfrey Deeny
Haute couture, that uniquely Parisian phenomenon that’s meant to be fashion’s experimental laboratory, finds itself in a bit of a conundrum because Yohji Yamamoto, the Japanese master who is by far the most inquisitive designer in the Paris season, is not technically considered a couturier, at least as far as the official calendar is concerned.
The novel, witty collection he showed Sunday evening in a Paris high school was very likely the most revolutionary show we will see this week, even though the show was not even on the official calendar.
Yamamoto’s big idea this season was body painting, where he had painted the models’ torsos, shoulders, arms and hands in Kandinsky-like hues of turquoise, brick red, faded pink and lapis lazuli.
"I’ve noticed lots of young women in Japan getting themselves covered in this sort of paint on their faces; I just wanted to take that idea somewhere else. I call it body make-up," smiled Yamamoto backstage.
Over this tinted talent, Yohji placed tops of semi-transparent mesh, macramé plastic and chain mail of denim, all worn with the best collection of denim pants seen in eons in Europe. These he cut low in the crotch, just a little baggy and dotted with grommets, for an exotic, beautiful effect.
All Yohji shows are a blend of the wryly subtle and faintly absurd, as were a long series of dresses that made up most of the second half of the collection. Some were the ideal look for the next Gagosian opening, others nigh impossible to work out how to get into. Hats in black felt, transparent plastic and raffia were all immense, one so large that it needed a "window" at the front brim.
Makeup too was bizarrely beautiful, with transparent "daisy" patches on the models’ cheekbones and smears of gel pulling back their hair. With Marc Jacobs and Azzedine Alaia sitting front row, the designer drifted back and forth between ancient Japanese references and modern attitudes, especially when it came to footwear.
The models almost floated down the stage on a series of platform flip flops, though a post-show note termed them "plateau thongs.” Produced by Adidas, these came in bright reds, greens and black and white, bore the designer’s signature and will be highly influential. They are not part of the designer’s successful Y-3 alliance with Adidas, but will be sold as part of Yamamoto’s signature line, and not cheaply – expected retail price is 300 Euros.
To inspire him, Yamamoto sent Adidas’ creative director Michael Michalsky two prints of 18th century Japanese geisha girls. The results were spectacular. Though an undoubted hit, the show was a little confusing. Indeed all his signature shows are, ever since Yamamoto decided to stage them at the start of couture week. Seasoned veterans sitting front-row at Yohji’s catwalk show found themselves asking out loud from which season were the clothes on the runway. The collection, officially a luxury ready-to-wear collection for spring-summer 2004, opened the French fall-winter 2003 season.
The Chambre Syndicale, French fashion’s governing body, is keen to make Yamamoto a foreign member of the profession. Its president Didier Grumbach told FWD that Yamamoto’s signature collections are "unquestionably haute couture." But don’t expect this to happen soon.
When FWD asked Yamamoto about the Chambre’s approach, the designer responded. "I don’t want to always be an off-shore member of the season. I’d like to be recognized as a couturier. But for me this whole thing of seasons doesn’t mean much anymore. The difference between them isn’t very important today. We need to understand that."
I'm going to faint when I see this - I'm sure.
anyway, nice work, love the first posted long jean skirt
