Yohji Yamamoto

Yohji Yamamoto founded his company Y’s in Tokyo in 1972. His first runway show followed in 1977. The first collection, under the Y’s label, focused on womenswear that reflected typical men’s garments. The clothes were cut in uncluttered shapes, washed fabrics, and dark colors.

He debuted his eponymous line in Paris in 1981, arriving with billows of dark fabric against the tight dresses and padded shoulders of the moment. Japanese journalists were unsparing in their response, asking him why he was making such dirty clothing. Europeans called the work too Japanese. The label that stuck, and the one Yamamoto has since accepted, places him among fashion’s experimental designers.

Menswear became a defining pillar of the house. In 1984, he presented his first menswear collection in Paris, which countered the bold colors of 1980s fashion with blacks and grays. The show was hailed for its dramatic reinterpretation of classic suits and tailoring, incorporating loose shapes and unconventional cuts.

The design language settled into wide-shouldered wool coats, dropped-crotch trousers, long jackets with asymmetric closures, and gabardine treated until it softened. Oversized silhouettes often feature drapery in varying textures, and the collections are predominately made in black.

The work sat alongside that of Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons and Issey Miyake. The three are credited with reshaping Paris from Tokyo. Recognition arrived through institutional channels, including Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1994, Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite in 2005, and Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2011, alongside a CFDA International Award.

The main lines, Yohji Yamamoto for women, Yohji Yamamoto Pour Homme for men, and Y’s, remain the structure of the house. They are joined by Y-3, the Adidas partnership begun in 2002 with Yamamoto as Creative Director.

The men’s collections dress an audience that ranges from architects and musicians to a younger crowd raised on the Y-3 sneaker. The brand sits in its own corner of the market, separate from the conglomerate-owned houses, closer in spirit to Comme des Garçons and to a circle of independent Japanese and Belgian designers who treat black tailoring as a continuing argument season after season.