Review of Yohji Yamamoto Fall 2022 Fashion Show
Rarefied Air
By Dao Tran
Yohji Yamamoto marches to the beat of his own drum. As a singular exception to all the other shows where models are stomping hard and fast down the runway, Yohji sends his models out at a slow, deliberate pace. This is befitting because the clothes feel slow and deliberate, as though they exist in rarefied air and have a timelessness to them. In fact, when I went on a Yohji binge last season inspired by the show, the lovely saleswoman said she has a collection going back more than 30 years and still wears all of it.
It’s brilliant because you can mix and match Yohji pieces from different seasons and always look stylish. That’s my idea of sustainability – when clothes can stand the test of time and remain relevant.
Together with the raised platform that he had installed this season at the grand Hotel de Ville location, it allowed you to see the clothes better and from all sides. Which was great because they don’t read nearly as genius on pictures as they are in real life and there’s such complexity there.
This season, there was a quite a bit of denim, which provides a nice juxtaposition with the full and flowy skirts. The thing about Yohji is that is moves really gracefully.
The gorgeous white pieces would make anyone look stylish. Although he presents on standard model sizes, his clothes could look good on all body types.
And it’s fall winter so puffer jackets, but make it Yohji. The mittens at the end of the sleeves are a cute touch. And love the impeccably tailored coats with dramatic collars.
The two layered knit looks at the end saw a rather atypical usage of color, with a blue turtleneck on top of a red turtleneck on top of a yellow turtleneck while red and blue yarn threaded throughout the skirt and the jellyfish headdress was a deep blue; as well as a purple sweater over a pink sweater over a green sweater and dark purple skirt. Curious whether this could be the beginning of a new chapter?
The master has been at it for over 40 years. He doesn’t follow trends, he doesn’t need to. He does what he does and it’s great.