There are a multitude of references to Yohji Yamamoto’s eighties heyday abounding on the catwalks of the winter 2017 season – the wide shoulder and fluid, unstructured shapes characteristic of his clothes back then are looking right for right now. Maybe its a reaction to a conservative administration on both sides of the Atlantic, and even in France – in the eighties, Yohji gave art dealers suits to wear that didn’t feel like everyone else’s, and didn’t mean they’d get mistaken for politicians or bankers. Guess what? No-one wants to be mistake for those even today, so Yamamoto’s garms still feel hyper-relevant. There’s no danger of anyone thinking you’re staid or boring in Yamamoto for winter, with his slouching layers and masterful cuts, jewel colours or delicate contrasts of sombrely-shaded wools. Now, as then, Yamamoto offers a seductive alternative to the rest of fashion, for the true individual. Who wouldn’t love that?
