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This season, master of the arts Yohji Yamamoto drew on the Y-3 part of his brain. Presenting a less dramatic silhouette, there was a sport luxe feel to a lot of looks, with drop crotch trousers, hoods, capes, flat laced boots and scarves, arranged in the most conceptual way imaginable. It was really all about arrangement, and balance, with coats hanging off shoulders and fabric carried on folded arms that said as much about the model’s poise as Yamamoto’s incredible style. The signatures were there in draping and folds you could never predict and the black/ red palette stayed true to form. The catwalk was set on a sports court and its neat perimeters juxtaposed Yamamoto’s asymmetric lines. Models walked through a red light district to get to the photographer’s pit, made up of red scaffolding, the same scaffolding that updated the V&A interior during his retrospective last year. This season’s red dress was first through with a low back, styled with unexpected but, in hindsight, quite perfect blue and lilac gloves. Hands came out of pockets, as opposed to going into and blue lips and hair dips added a punk edge. Star pieces were the royal blue military coats and a stunning pleated red dress shaped like an upside-down flower. But then every look was, like its maker, quite simply outstanding.
Text: Sarah Raphael
Photography: Mitchell Sams
Click here to see our AW12 Womenswear coverage in full.
