Reunion

There was tension and an energetic atmosphere everywhere before Yohji Yamamoto's fashion show. When I talked with Tamaka Takefushi, my friend in LA, my memories flashed back in rapid succession. We both worked for Yohji more than ten years ago in public relations. Tamaka is now an interpreter of Japanese actors such as Rinko Kikuchi from Babel. I remind myself how much the designer put his blood into his work. He never holds back anything for his fashion shows--from the venue, stage direction, sounds, lights, models, invitation cards, and of course, to his creation. 

I think, for him, fashion shows are not just shows to present his latest clothes, but platforms where he presents his thoughts, vision, art, and ironies or objections toward fashion.

I was looking forward to the opening of a new Yohji Yamamoto boutique in New York. I heard the rumor about the shop opening a few years ago, but media kept publicizing that the opening in the Meatpacking district had been postponed. In February, during 2008 Fall New York Fashion Week, the store finally opened. It had been twenty years since he opened his first flagship store on Grand Street in SoHo. Tamaka also heard the news and emailed me. We promised to go together to the opening, and realized that almost a decade had passed since we had last met.

At the opening night, I observed the store's very imposing wedge shaped structure. A black gabardine cocktail dress with ruffles, and oversized tailored jackets were hung in a dramatic manner. Thus the inside of the boutique looked like an art gallery. At the main entrance, showcases displayed a new fine jewelry collection called Stormy Weather, the beautiful results of collaboration with Mikimoto. I noticed that Junya Ishigami, a young architect for the shop was there. He established his firm after working for SANAA--an architecture design firm of Ryue Nishijima and Kazuyo Sejima, known for New Museum. "It took two years to finish this shop," he explained. "I dismantled the building and rebuilt it again into this V-shape by using original old bricks."
This extraordinary shop looks like a rising peninsula on Gansevoort Street. On the other side of the street, the first Y-3 shop opened as well. Y-3 is a joint sportswear label with Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas. This store features futuristic interior, introduces its sports-meets-couture clothes. At these unique places, I was reunited with the designer's aesthetics.

A few days before the opening, I went to the show of Y-3 at Pier 40. What amazed me was its long glacial runway. One side of 70 meter runway was a wall made of ice blocks, as if the Arctic has come to New York. The show staff gave disposal hand-warmers to the audience, and placed lap robes with Y-3 logo on the seats.
The collection consisted of colorful tartan tailored jackets, knitwear, and padded hoodies. On some accessories such as cashmere shawls were printed with the designer's inconspicuous and inspirational messages:
"I am only one, but still I am one of few," "Don't forget to pull your zip down," "Words are full of art, I am only sighing."
The last phrase reminds me of the lecture the designer gave at Kuwasawa design school in Tokyo in 1999. He told the young design students that they should not watch fashion media. "For someone who wishes to start fashion line, the recent media is awful." 

I had a feeling lamenting my years of writing thousands of "must-have" bags & shoes, and wardrobes of celebrities.
After the show, I touched the icy wall. As a result of the rising temperature in the room, the ice had melted little by little like today's polar glacial.

(photo: Y-3 2008 fall collection (c) Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week)