When a master tailor known for the avant garde appropriates the very trend against which he first bucked, there is humourous beauty. Yohji Yamamoto opened his Spring 2014 Ready to Wear show with the all black pieces for which he is known – topped, of course, with a 21st century raver’s barrister wig. There is no other description for the grey curls and grandfather’s eyebrows on each model.
Then all fashion hell breaks loose: in neon. First with all-neon looks, then in varied stages of layering with black and white, even with pattern, Yamamoto uses the trendy brights with his legendary skill. The collection’s play on color ebbs and flows, settling into a playful rhythm.
Famously charged with (along with Rei Kawakubo) the possible end of fashion, Yamamoto turns the expected on its head yet again. His cult-like followers have not waned, and for good reason. His filmy overlays put blue on green on yellow, then sometimes on red. Pink peeks out of black. Structurally, there are flowing dresses and starkly crafted suits. White shirts, almost schoolgirl-like, are not plain, but inventive. So much so that Yamamoto closes his show with one. No dramatic ball gown ends the Monk’s show. Rather, his mischievous aesthetic, which flirts with proportion, stands simply as the closing remark.
Images courtesy Style.com
by Alison Santighian