The Shape of Fashion to Come
Review of Yohji Yamamoto Fall 2024 Fashion Show
By Mark Wittmer
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
THE THEME
Among Yohji Yamamoto’s many talents is making clothes that simply can’t be understood from a still, head-on image – especially when it’s a look that makes use of his favorite color, black. The series of looks that opened his Fall 2024 collection are exemplary of this phenomenon: these coat dresses made complex use of abstract, pocket-like structures that built off of the surface of the fabric in a jazz-like synthesis of cool composure and chaos, spilling over particularly onto the back, where they were sometimes arranged into a deconstructed take on a bustle.
That theme of transforming a two-dimensional fabric into abstract and expressionistic three-dimensional shapes was the collection’s unifying thread. After the first fifteen monochrome looks that initially proposed and developed this idea, Yohji introduced plaid and pinstripe fabrics, masterfully highlighting and repurposing the linearity of these patterns to further amplify and explore these concepts of occupying space and changing directions that challenge the two-dimensional simplicity of a surface.
The final six looks formed a kind of coda. In addition to the slight visual shift, they were marked off from the rest of the collection in that the first model of this group didn’t enter until the previous model had completely left the runway, and they all remained on the runway together. These charcoal-gray looks were ostensibly simpler takes on classic tailoring, but had pointed shoulders that lent a touch of the fantastical, hips and skirts or pants subtly drawn from kimono and hakama, and incredibly layered, voluminous bustles.
THE BUZZWORDS
Spatial. Improvisational. Avant-garde. Dimensional.
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Look #30
It literally was a showstopper in that it entered the runway after a well-timed dramatic pause, and this look’s mastery of traditional tailoring techniques in service of something totally distinct was a beautiful resolution.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
One of the most intimate aspects of Yohji Yamamoto’s runway shows is that his soundtracks often feature his own versions of classic blues, rock, and jazz songs on which he sings and plays guitar. This collection felt like one in which we could really see how these two disciplines intertwine: like jazz music, these pieces champion improvisational energy, put feeling and movement before intellectual understanding, and are best appreciated in a live setting. It’s always thrilling to see the master at his work.
