Yohji Yamamoto Overview

Yohji Yamamoto's 1999 spring fashion show is said to have made hardened fashion editors cry. The so-called King of Japanese Deconstructivism takes a poetic stance with his angular and hard-edged designs, emphasizing simplicity of both line and function. His work is... [more]

Yohji Yamamoto's 1999 spring fashion show is said to have made hardened fashion editors cry. The so-called King of Japanese Deconstructivism takes a poetic stance with his angular and hard-edged designs, emphasizing simplicity of both line and function. His work is filled with dark, sharp, vivid lines that rebel against the high drama of Parisian couture. It also maintains a connection to his Japanese roots: the space, light, and contemplative ambience of Japanese design play a fundamental role in his creations. Yamamoto was born in Tokyo in 1943 and studied fashion at the Bunkafukuso Gakuin School. But the constant tumult of design and emotion that has poured forth is also the result of Yamamoto's never-ending self-education. This man is attracted to history, photography, literature, music, and architecture. He also draws inspiration from the design and colors of cities. His two favorites are Paris and Tokyo: the former for the grey and somber feel often associated with it, and the latter for being his hometown. The darkness he loves so much has proved to be controversial. At a show in 1981, one critic said his designs "look like leftover scraps from an atomic blast and call to mind the end of the world." Yamamoto's version of the modern woman is not the glamorous, rich, femme fatale of the '80s; instead she wears unpretentious, unstructured, geometric garments. Some critics even complain that he hides the female form in what appear to be oversized sheets. But while too minimalist and somber for some, Yamamoto's work has found an enthusiastic following with the eccentric-yet-functional fashionista contingent. [show less]