YOHJI Yamamoto put on another touchingly beautiful display of the clarity he finds working so well with a dark colour palette. Deep tones transcending colour choice were detectable in the serious way Yamamoto went about presenting the sartorial avant-garde in his own way. The possibilities of what can be done with a mere ribbon of fabric are endless for the Japanese designer and his clear belief in a duty to still push whatever boundaries can be is utterly virtuous.
The outcome still totally wearable, Yamamoto sliced and diced cut-away skirts and jackets in such a way to make “sensible” clothing utterly nonsensical. Done in a serious trio of black, white and red, there was the allure of simply shimmering silk dresses scraped with paint, oddly sized jackets buttoned off-kilter yet conscious of the human form and the contrast of skin where clothing deconstructed around it hanging on by bandaged cotton should be, rivetingly realised. This is a master of form at work.
Yamamoto brought SS17 to a graceful end with black suits galvanising the body and given added unorthodox structure by speckled sprays of white paint sectioning the smart tailoring. The peculiar power of these pieces was topped off but in no way trumped by makeup and hair by Pat McGrath which allowed the make-up artist to play to her experimental strengths. All eyes were no doubt on the clothing from head to toe however. Yamamoto isn’t a designer who demands any kind of attention or adulation from or for his creations; this showed more than ever with a quietly passionate collection.
by Livia Feltham
Images courtesy of Yohji Yamamoto