Y-3 Fall 2012: Fashion’s Nomads
Yohji Yamamoto could be called fashion’s cipher. The godfather of Japanese conceptualism who has also collaborated with Adidas on the avant-sportswear line Y-3 for the past decade—and who didn’t appear for a bow at the end of his show yesterday—is not someone you corner for a sound bite. So we’ll refer to the show notes sent via PR blast later in the evening which mention his admiration for the “poetry and elegance to the way nomads dress,” and desire “to capture that feeling and make it modern.”
That emphasis on itinerant lifestyles would explain the very Silk Road-esque carpets piled across the runway when we arrived at the usual Y-3 underground showspace at 82 Mercer Street. It would also explain the multi-culti mix of references in the 58-look run of show for women and men; we spotted a oversized sherpa, a mini sombrero, and a black hat reminiscent of those worn by Andean matrons—and that’s just amongst the headgear.
