Another Look
Spring/Summer 2012
I miss Y's For Men. It was cool and comfortable everyday clothing, which was a touch more affordable than mainline Yohji, without sacrificing design. Of course it is still reasonably easy to find for purchase second-hand or from leftover stock, however obviously the amount is finite and prices fluctuate. Whether or not it has since been subsumed in some manner into Pour Homme is an interesting question for another time, but I do think there is still room in the Yohji-verse for a replacement of some kind. Coming Soon was a nice gateway into Yohji's aesthetic world, but it was unfortunately cut short before it had time to really come into its own.
Womenswear is however a different beast altogether, and there Y's continues on as ever. The incredible photograph below was recently emailed out to announce the arrival of the new season in-store, and as such I found myself automatically looking back to the season just gone (of course Summer has yet to start here in London, what with the incessant rain, so I suppose it is appropriate that Autumn and Winter fair is already in stock). I thought the Spring/Summer Y's collection was really quite beautiful, however looking through the lookbook once again, I have to admit that the styling was not exactly the best. And therein is I think quite an important point in practice.
I sometimes find it odd how quickly people can dismiss a collection (whether it be runway or lookbook) based on styling alone. Indeed it is for this exact reason I am interested in reserving full judgement on the Ann Demeulemeester Spring/Summer 2013 collection until I can handle the pieces in person - because the styling was for me a mess, and I really want to be able to examine individual garments up close. In this particular case I do not think the styling was bad, merely that it was a touch off to my eyes, which did change the way I saw the collection until I could examine it by garment rather than by lookbook photograph and styled look alone. Whilst I do not think this was a particularly outstanding Y's collection, I did actually enjoy it far more than I thought I initially would, and as such it is a reminder to always look, then look again, and then look again.
As it is, I am already excited about checking out the next collection, and judging by the teaser below, I am sure I won't be disappointed.
xxxx