yohji yoMAMAyoto

(Get it? YOUR MOM?)
Anyway, ahem.

Yohji Yamamoto began with classic Yohji shapes and concepts-deconstructed white button-down, deconstructed blazers, black, white, a little more black, one gray look, etc. Nothing new, really. It felt a bit as if the first looks were just things he thought of to get ideas rolling, but this resulted in not much we haven't seen before, not in the first half of the show, anyway. One thing that did strike me as being very different from his usual aesthetic was all the "punk rock" pieces-a leather jacket, miniskirts (MINIS! at Yohji!), cuffs and garters, fingerless leather gloves. I wonder if Yamamoto is just late to jumping on the black-and-studs bandwagon, or if he simply wanted to wait until people are tired of Givenchy to have his say. Or, maybe, it isn't that complicated, and he just wanted to present a few less complex, more retail-friendly, more fun pieces. The biker jacket and gloves don't seem to be deconstructed or have much concept behind them, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. As Miuccia Prada says, "commercial should not be an insult, like something is not beautiful."

yohji1

The punk-ish pieces remind me a bit of 90's FRUiTS, actually.

Next, things did get a little more tattered and torn. I love the holes. They're a little more like teary-eyed lace than they are "LOOK, I'M SO HARDCORE I RIPPED MY JEANS. ALSO PS MY NAME IS CHRISTOPHE DECARNIN." (I swear I'll stop on that one soon.) The holes here look like a bunch of delicate baby moths tattered up your long sweater but you love it so much that you'll wear it anyway. I really want to see better detail shots.
yohji2

And next, NEXT! was my favorite part of the collection. Light baby florals with those delicate holes again. They look like dresses that belonged to your grandmother that you just gently lifted out from an old trunk in the attic (I can actually picture this in my mind, ridiculously well.) They also remind me a bit of The Virgin Suicides* as well, just in the whole feel they give off. They feel like a kind of sad, burned version of an idealistically simple life. I can tell I'm just going to be obsessed with any editorial I see these in for forever. I may need to stimulate the economy and get one of the blazers. Once a few seasons have passed and they cost much less on Yoox, of course.

*I totally just out-pretentious'd myself. Ehh..
yohji3

I'm not sure what I think of the collection as a whole. I wasn't sure how I felt about the first classic looks, or the "punk" ones, and I thought writing it out would help me figure it out but not really. And as much as I love the last pieces, it almost seems like they were thrown in because, oh, right, this is a collection for spring. The whole thing was kind of all over the place but without any progression. We started with leather jackets and got to floral dresses, but how? I guess the best and easiest way for me to put it, mostly for the sake of explaining it to myself, is that I just wasn't completely "feeling" the entire collection. But not all of Yohji Yamamoto's shows have to be groundbreakingly conceptual, and that's okay. With the economy, this would be the best possible time to be a bit more commercial, and we all know it won't be permanent.

29 comments:

faye said...

The florals are simply wonderful arn't they? If I were to buy one the third one has to be definatly by favourite. In terms with the "I'M SO HARDCORE I RIPPED MY JEANS" Look, that has to be totally my style! ;)
x

Pearl Westwood said...

Your Balmain rage cracks me up!
Pearl

Adriancito said...

and then i was like...chiwoooooo!!

kate cait sith said...

"I really want to see better detail shots."
weellll if you want to see the yohji HQs they are here:
http://www.coutorture.com/5407582
i pretty much scoured all of them.

Rebecca Jane said...

The florals are lovely, and my favorite, i think.

windmill said...

i know that i'm banale...but these floraaaaals
i love

Ellie said...

the square necks and the little poofed shoulders are perfect on the floral pieces are perfect!

Anonymous said...

your blog is so amazing, i am so surprised that i have never came across it before ♥

Narwhals said...

the florals are, just like everybody else says, b-e-a-UTIFUL!
ooh, ur way lucky to meet marc (the post before...) xxx

Amy // The Girl In The Bowler Hat said...

Them floral prints are lovely, my favourite by far. :)


xxxx

... said...

what you are saying is so true..





-most inspiring stylist of our generation: Panos Yiapanis
on
http://siqlogic.blogspot.com/

kaila rain said...

i saw the florals and totally thought "the virgin suicides". i watched that movie last night with friends, as result. :D

Amy + Ava said...

the florals are really cute :)
WeNeedToHaveATalk.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

hmm, that's a interesting point: "time to be a bit more commercial" I'm not feeling it at all tbh. xoxox

Emily said...

the floral dresses look like they got caught in a cheese grater... or a paper shredder... i can't quite figure it out :)

i was rather underwhelmed by yohji. i thought the hair and makeup really stole the show, as opposed to the clothing. but you can't take away from the talent, that's for sure!

neutraltuesday.blogspot.com

janet said...

please check out the music video showcasing the s/s 2010 collection for my line, graey: http://tinyurl.com/graeyss10
xoxo
janet

Isabel said...

Haha, I can definitely see the Virgin Suicides vibe to the dresses. Except that I hated that movie so I'm trying not to think about it too hard.

Stjarna said...

This mix punk-chic-dark is really gorgeous...!! :)

Lizzy said...

Christophe Decarnin is really getting on my nerves! I kind of want to get him with my plastic knife.

Anonymous said...

the white lace looks are totally flawless!!!!! thanks so much for sharing the inspiration

-cma
check out my blog @
cosmicaroline.blogspot.com

Keri Couture (creations) said...

I mean the jump to piercing cuts in almost evry design, like vintage to advantage of...?
yohji yomamayoto

?
style?

questionmark.

Sweet blog though! (:
~k

Keri Couture (creations) said...

I mean the jump to piercing cuts in almost evry design, like vintage to advantage of...?
yohji yomamayoto

?
style?

questionmark.

Sweet blog though! (:
~k

Katy said...

Well written!

Sheik-Chan said...

Aside from Yohji's Grandma's collection..I really like these designs. They may not seem like he had to think hard to put the pieces together but I still like how they were presented.

I still love holes in my pants (and along the cuffs of favorite hooded sweaters) so I love the tattered, holey look. :]

The first collection screams "Rebellious secretary". I would be completely fine with wearing the 3rd outfit from the left. It's gorgeous, in my eyes. *~*

Thanks for the interesting post, Tavi-chan. :3

Sheik-Chan said...

P.S. I would definitely have to say, 90's FRUiTS. ;D

Naddy Sane said...

i am really loving the interesting perfect inventive cuts of the jackets. very nice. OMG WOW the holes areee quite desireable! ahh the whole tattered look, it's just beautiful. Done very well. also nice styling .

Thanks for a good blog.

nad xx

Scubasocks said...

i actually love the collection, tehre's something about that i find really lovely. (:
maybe it's my obsession with florals, but i'm not sure.
well, anyway. i re-stumbled upon your blog, after a year of not reading it, and wow is all i can say!

Ashley said...

Still can't get over how intelligently you write. Everything makes sense.

http://fashionroadkill-halifax.blogspot.com

stars&lilies said...

love that movie & i love vintage. lace is slowly becoming my downfall