Yohji Yamamoto F/W 13.14 Paris

[runner]

yes the crane is a beloved creature in japan but not a common bird.
you'd see them mostly inhabit the northern areas in hokkaido. so they can often be associated with snowy landscape over here.
although they seem to like marshes and little life gathering there and I too was a big fan of loach, I had never encountered them back then unfortunately.

maybe he is, or "get back" was to all those who used to be the cranes in the industry? like get back to those days when the system was not this "shi tty" and the devotion to making clothes was a bit more sincere.
he is the man who walks backward into the future. he progresses with his face toward the past basically.
what is always on his mind is possibilities left in the past, "the dead" that there is to be "resurrected".


cranes from nagapon
angelus novus from goo

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Beautiful images; I love the gowns in particular as well as those blue-finger-nail gloves!!

Love, too, the "Angel of History" image - makes me think of Walter Benjamin's famous quote.

 

[runner]

if the stagnation is really at work right now, that's lucky for the angel.
it serves as a windbreak, and he can close his wings finally.
there is a lot to do.
the future will be found in the past. something new will be born with the dead.

 

[iluvjeisa]

The new shots add new depth, definitely.

 

[Phuel]

Yeah, the crane is an eternal symbol of all that's good not only in Japan, but China and Korea as well.

This collection looks like Yohji fast-forwarding through a joyful and "Pop" romp of the various styles of Japanese women to me. And in that sense, it's a bit shallow and throwaway compared to his usual showing-- nothing is strikingly memorable to me here, despite many looks: Everything from the 80s muted colors of the tube-esque/color-block silhouettes to the anime/Victorian Harajuku Girls of the 90s, to the classic long, sombre. monastic uniform of the artist-type-- complete with the severe, blunt bob (that even Rei wears, but hardly exclusive to her, as it's the hairstyle many women in the creative industry in Asia have adopted). I don't get the final part with all the various lengths of flares/bells... It's all too cartoony for me-- and for Yohji. I'd love to know why these designs were included.

I'm not used to a "best-of-Japanese-street-styles-through-the-decades type of collection from Yohji, as I prefer the restrained, disciplined and more pensive and poetic side of him. This all feels like... "speed-designing" Yohji. And as a collection, it feels ragtag and redundant to me, so unlike him, and not in a good way: Too "Pop-up" Yohji.

 

[runner]

Yeah, the crane is an eternal symbol of all that's good not only in Japan, but China and Korea as well.

This collection looks like Yohji fast-forwarding through a joyful and "Pop" romp of the various styles of Japanese women to me. And in that sense, it's a bit shallow and throwaway compared to his usual showing-- nothing is strikingly memorable to me here, despite many looks: Everything from the 80s muted colors of the tube-esque/color-block silhouettes to the anime/Victorian Harajuku Girls of the 90s, to the classic long, sombre. monastic uniform of the artist-type-- complete with the severe, blunt bob (that even Rei wears, but hardly exclusive to her, as it's the hairstyle many women in the creative industry in Asia have adopted). I don't get the final part with all the various lengths of flares/bells... It's all too cartoony for me-- and for Yohji. I'd love to know why these designs were included.

I'm not used to a "best-of-Japanese-street-styles-through-the-decades type of collection from Yohji, as I prefer the restrained, disciplined and more pensive and poetic side of him. This all feels like... "speed-designing" Yohji. And as a collection, it feels ragtag and redundant to me, so unlike him, and not in a good way: Too "Pop-up" Yohji.

of course part of the flying theme:

geocities
livedoor

 

[softgrey]

poetry AND a sense of humour...


what more can you ask for...
...

 

[Phuel]

Runner: I'd much prefer if he had gone all GoBots-crazy... Those flares/bells are just beneath him-- looks like Betsey Johnson guest-designed the finale.

 

[softgrey]

i don't love the cropped flares either, but i know people who do...
anyway...it's just a few looks, not the whole show...
......

i think i could get married in this look...

 

[runner]

softgrey, the pic you just posted isn't working for me!

Runner: I'd much prefer if he had gone all GoBots-crazy... Those flares/bells are just beneath him-- looks like Betsey Johnson guest-designed the finale.

Phuel, I too would like to see him thoroughly doing an abstract chimera of siren and mermaid.
and I wouldn't say this is his best, but also honestly never see betsey johnson here even if limi yamamoto actually.

the issue with this collection of monumental ruins is that it's not dissociated enough. it's still a bit too neat. but this is how I see it as a collection as in a show.

 

[softgrey]

from nowfashion...
yep...

Perhaps it would be more appropriate to approach Yohji Yamamoto’s collections as moods rather than seasons. “Season? Before speaking about season, we have to talk about the Earth. It is sick. So I’m designing my collections without being influenced by season” he mused backstage. Considering the freak weather experiences of the past couple of years, this sounds like a wise decision.

runner-
i agree that those last few looks remind me of some older limi stuff...
especially the jackets shown with the flares...
i guess that is what you are seeing as well...

but then i thought about it and it's also very 'parisian artist'...which is very yohji, actually...
especially the jackets...with the big beret just to make the point!

what confused me more than anything with this last grouping is the platform shoes...
but they do go with the parisian them...so then they make sense...
it's very sonia rykiel, from my point of view...
(and he has mentioned before that he is an admirer of her work)

runner-
the look i tried to post before is this one...
I wish i could make it bigger...it's better bigger!...
nowfashion

 

[Phuel]

OK-- I went too far with the Betsey Johnson comparison-- no designs are ever as frightfully godawful as hers! But those flares/bells are still crap to me and don't belong in his vocabulary.

I agree, there are so many pieces that are very good in this collection-- in a wearable, flattering and thoughtful and an easy and fun manner for women. Actually, I think this is his most commercial and accessible collection in a very long time. With so many options, this is the type of collection that buyers are drawn to. But, as a whole-- and as a Yohji-statement, there's nothing new or interesting, or even directional. Yeah, it's good to see Yohji lighten and loosen up, but I still prefer extreme and severe Yohji: I don't think I want to see Yohji inject humor like flares into his vocabulary, I've always got Donatella's designs when I want a good laugh.

 

[softgrey]

yohji is always injecting humour though...
he did one show that ended with the models doing a pole dance!...
...

people just don't see that side of him because it's more subdued and impish, rather than big and silly...
but i think he is always chuckling to himself as he designs...
the menswear is where you see it more, but it's in his womenswear too..

that one wedding dress with the hat that is so big it needs bamboo poles to hold it up could be considered i big poetic gesture...
but it's also hilarious~!



just like the beatles soundtrack to this show...
i'm pretty sure that 'get back' as the closing song was no accident...
that is yohji chuckling as he sends a message to the general audience...

about the cropped flares...
i never like them...ever!
there are certain designers who visit them from time to time...
junya and marni come to mind right away...
i've seen them in costumes from old movies...
and i just never think they are attractive...
so i agree with you phuel...i'd ditch them...

but i happen to really like wearing full length flares and that whole 'gangsta' look is really sexy, imo...
i guess one evolved into the other somehow with this collection...

*just have to also say that as someone who was far to young when yohji started designing to be able to wear the stuff...
i am glad to see some if the iconic and timeless vocabulary appearing and being made available again...
and i know i'm not the only one of his fans/customers to think this...

 

[Phuel]

^^^ Oh yeah, I adore Yohji's deadpan humor! That colossal hat with the bamboo support was ingenious-- like a bunraku with live people. There's a clever, witty and artistic sense of mischief there-- but awe, beauty and grandness as well. And the recent menswear collection was pure Yohji-cheekiness with all the paste-on beards-- I was surprised some called it kitsch, as it was quite clear the beards were meant to look comedic and not meant to be serious. Thats the type of humor I associate with Yohji.

Flares/bells can be extremely elegant, of course-- but not in this case, Yohji. Just doesn't work with his design vocabulary.

 

[Uemarasan]

I think this is a beautiful collection, and those images on the first page definitely do not do this justice. They are terrible examples of photography.

Like the Chalayan show, this has to be seen in motion.

 

[softgrey]

softgrey, the pic you just posted isn't working for me!




Phuel, I too would like to see him thoroughly doing an abstract chimera of siren and mermaid.
and I wouldn't say this is his best, but also honestly never see betsey johnson here even if limi yamamoto actually.

the issue with this collection of monumental ruins is that it's not dissociated enough. it's still a bit too neat. but this is how I see it as a collection as in a show.

yes- that makes sense...
i see this especially with the first few looks...i don't understand them...
they look as though they are deconstructed...but they are too 'neat' to be really deconstructed...
so they must be something else...but i'm not sure what...