Yohji Yamamoto
Encyclopedia
Yōji Yamamoto is an award winning Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese fashion designer based in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Yohji is considered to be among the master tailors whose work is thought to be of fashion genius and he has been described by Julie Gilhart, fashion director for Barney's New York as probably the only designer you could name who has 60-year-olds who think he's incredible and 17-year-olds who think he's way cool.. His more prestigious awards for his contributions to fashion include the Japanese Medal of Honor
Medals of Honor (Japan)
Since the late 19th Century, the Government of Japan has issued six different types of to individuals for achievements in various fields.The Medals of Honor were established on December 7, 1881, and were first awarded the following year. Several expansions and amendments have been made since then...

, the Ordre national du Mérite
Ordre National du Mérite
The Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of State awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...

, the Royal Designer for Industry and the Master of Design award by Fashion Group International.

Early life

Born in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Yamamoto graduated from Keio University
Keio University
,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...

 with a degree in law in 1966. His further studies in fashion design
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....

 at Bunka Fashion College
Bunka Fashion College
is a prestigious Japanese college specializing in the teaching of fashion design and related disciplines in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The College is known for its strict curriculum and heavy workload...

 led to a degree in 1969.

Designer

Yamamoto became an influential fashion designer after making his Paris debut in 1981. His commercially successful main lines, Yohji Yamamoto (women/men) and Y's, are especially popular in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

. These two lines are also available at his flagship stores in New York, Paris, and Antwerp, and at high-end department stores worldwide. Yohji Yamamoto Inc. reported in 2007 that the sales of Yamamoto's two main lines average above $100 million annually.

Yamamoto is known for an avant-garde spirit in his clothing, frequently creating designs far removed from current trends. His signature oversized silhouettes in black often feature drapery in varying textures.

Yamamoto's work has also become familiar to consumers through his collaborations with other fashion brands, including Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...

 (Y-3), Hermès
Hermès
Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès is a French high fashion house established in 1837, today specializing in leather, lifestyle accessories, perfumery, luxury goods, and ready-to-wear...

, Mikimoto and Mandarina Duck
Mandarina Duck
Mandarina Duck is an Italian fashion brand, most commonly associated with designer luggage and travel accessories. Its headquarters are in Bologna, Italy, and also has branches in Paris, Barcelona, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Vienna and London also with outlets such as Banbridge Outlet in Northern Ireland...

; and with artists of different genres, such as Sir Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

, Placebo
Placebo (band)
Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...

, Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...

, Pina Bausch
Pina Bausch
Philippina "Pina" Bausch was a German performer of modern dance, choreographer, dance teacher and ballet director...

 and Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller was a German dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. Described as "the theatre's greatest living poet" since Samuel Beckett, Müller is arguably the most important German dramatist of the 20th century after Bertolt Brecht...

.

Poor decisions by finance managers pushed the brand into debts of more than 65 million US dollars in 2009, which angered Yamamoto and led to a company restructuring from 2009 to 2010. The private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....

 firm Integral Corp was identified as the Japanese company who will restructure the Yohji Yamamoto Inc and by November 2010 the company was out of debt and avoiding the risk of bankruptcy.

Family life

Yamamoto's daughter, Limi Feu, has followed in his footsteps. She debuted as a fashion designer at the Tokyo Fashion Week in 2000, showed in Tokyo from 2000 to 2007, and debuted to critical acclaim in Paris in 2007.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Yamamoto was involved in a relationship with fellow Japanese avant-garde fashion designer Rei Kawakubo
Rei Kawakubo
is a Japanese fashion designer, founder of Comme des Garçons.She is untrained as a fashion designer, but studied fine arts and literature at Keio University. After graduation, Kawakubo worked in a textile company and began working as a freelance stylist in 1967....

 of Commes des Garcons fame.

Fashion fellowship

In 2008, the Yohji Yamamoto Fund for Peace (YYFP) was established in conjunction with the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development (CFFPD). to foster development of China's fashion industry and to help heal the long-standing enmity between China and Japan. Each year, an emerging Chinese designer will be awarded with a two-year scholarship to a fashion college in Japan or Europe, and a male or female Chinese fashion model will be selected to make a runway debut during the Paris prêt-à-porter season.

Yamamoto has been quoted as saying: "they must have so many angry young people. Being a fashion designer or an artist, you have to be angry." Of the fashion show he staged in Beijing in spring 2008 to launch this initiative, Yamamoto said, "It's not political. I am going to open a store here, then Chinese people will come and shop there, and then they are happy. The real art is making people happy, but also asking questions about society."

Career

  • 1972 Y's joint stock corporation founded.
  • 1977 Tokyo collection debut.
  • 1981 Pret a porter collection debut in Paris. Yohji Yamamoto line started at the same time.
  • 1984 Yohji Yamamoto joint stock corporation founded.
  • 1996 Designed along side Red or Dead founders Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway MBE
  • 1995 Designs costumes for the Heiner Müller-directed/Daniel Barenboim-conducted production of Wagner's complex opera, Tristan & Isolde.
  • 2002 Haute couture collection presented in Paris. Relationship formed with exclusive Parisian boutiques.
  • 2003 Opening of the Y's line flagship store in Roppongi Hills.
  • 2003 Y-3 line and collection debut.
  • 2003 Designs costumes for Elton John
    Elton John
    Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

    's The Red Piano show in Las Vegas.

Principal lines

  • Yohji Yamamoto
  • Yohji Yamamoto POUR HOMME
  • Yohji Yamamoto COSTUME D'HOMME
  • COMING SOON by Yohji Yamamoto

Projects

Yohji Yamamoto was invited to curate the second issue of A MAGAZINE curated by in 2005, following Martin Margiela
Martin Margiela
Martin Margiela is a Belgian fashion designer. He studied at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts along with the legendary avantgarde fashion collective the Antwerp Six. Many still consider him to be the "7th" member of the collective.- Life and work:After graduation in 1980 he worked as a...

.

Filmography

  • Notebook on Cities and Clothes
    Notebook on Cities and Clothes
    Notebook on Cities and Clothes is a documentary film about Yohji Yamamoto directed by Wim Wenders.- External links :*...

    (1989) by Wim Wenders
    Wim Wenders
    Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...

  • Dolls (2002) by Kitano Takeshi
  • "Brother"(2000) by Kitano Takeshi

External links

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