EXCERPT: YOHJI YAMAMOTO. READY-TO-WEAR FALL 2023 - PARIS FASHION WEEK.

 

"...if you don't have that financial backing i.e acquired by a conglomerate, the life cycle of some of these brands inspired by Yamamoto and Kawakubo, have dissipated more than they have appeared.  And it is Yamamoto's enduring legacy of over 40 years, to which he has not compromised his styles, achieved by luck and of course timing, such was the sweet spot of the late 70's and early 1980's; probably, in our saturated and corporate market places, could not be achieved today.  

So, it is fine to allow oneself to romanticize the 79 year old's backlog and history of the aging master, as one of the most stalwart risqué designers.  To imagine what it was like at his first show in 1981 during Paris Fashion week of that year at his small studio on Rue du Cygne, when the fashion press, in their lack of foresight and conservative attitude at the time, named in a derogatory manner the collection "Hiroshima chic".  Yet, both he and Kawakubo laid the groundwork for what later emphasize as asymmetrical cuts and layering of fine wools, cotton and linin, all under their stygian setting, that gave  these dark and evocative styles a podium to change couture and fashion world in general..."

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Full review: chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/03/yohji-yamamoto-ready-to-wear-fall-2023.html?m=1

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(A.Glass 2023)