Wait...what?!

Upon first glance these images could be more than somewhat confusing, but Yohji Yamamoto has never really followed the rest of the crowd when it comes to fashion. He has been labelled a philosopher, a genius and even the sexiest man alive. Giorgio Armani has called him 'a poet' and Donna Karen 'an artist'. Harper's Bazaar wrote that his desgins are 'often spiritual, intellectual, lyrical, abstract, sometimes difficult, yet always beautiful.' Indeed his collections serve to be both avant garde and classic at the same time, through the use of dark fabrics applied to almost androgynous, asexual creations. Yohji himself states that 'I want to achieve anti-fashion through fashion; that’s why I am always heading in my own direction, in parallel to fashion'.

The 1980s saw Yohji and other Japanese designers descend into Paris, bringing with them strange draping black asymmetric creations, so far removed from the glamourous and often egocentric designs of the time. His early designs were actual inspired from uniforms, specifically those of post war Japan, especially poignant for him, as his mother was a war widow. In terms of his womenswear, he seperated himself from other desginers, in that he focused on the back of all garments and built his way from there. The reason he gave for this was that the back was the most sensual and beautiful part of a woman, the curves of the back gave structure to her whole being, therefore any clothing should accentuate and celebrate this.

Yohji continues his ideas of celebration into his Spring 2009 collection. It is a celebration of all ages and sizes. The runway was oddly occupied with men of around his age, with wonderfully aged looks, looking almost like faded beauty, thereby signalling a hint of sorrow within the celebration. Backstage he said 'the world is becoming worse and worse. My message is, let's be happy.' The hints of red and blue are for Yohji's designs very upbeat, for one is usually confronted with a sea of black and greys at his shows. I find it odd that a man often marginalised as an artistic hero, a conceptual genius, for the upper classes, is also almost an embassador for democratic fashion on the runways.

*EDIT* Thought I'd share some photographs of the Espadrilles I ended up getting!
Currently playing: Only U - Ashanti / Speed Of Sound - Coldplay

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