Some of this was covered by a similar interview by iD magazine that I posted here, but thought I'd post it anyway.
Prestige Hong Kong June 2008 Fashion Feature ?The Mystery of Yohji?
Original text by Vivienne Tang
Photography by Joan Arroyo
Yohji Yamamoto is known for his reluctance to talk to the media. His shy and private nature expresses itself through his designs alone, revealing the fringes of his secrets. Given the rare chance to interview the Japanese legend, Prestige Hong Kong Fashion Editor Vivienne Tang catches a glimpse of what lies beneath
Yohji Yamamoto revolutionised the fashion world when he showcased his Paris debut collection in 1981. His singular black, masculine, deconstructed looks have changed not only the way we look at fashion, but also our perception of how women should dress. His dark creations have become a distinctive counterpoint to the colourful, feminine styles that had dominated the runways. French musician Jean-Michel Jarre once described a woman in Yohji as a nymphomaniac nun in clothes that are sensual and ritualistic.
Yamamoto is as mysterious and contradictory as his asymmetric designs. He is attracted by flaws and imperfections and despises anything that looks overly commercial and sexy.
Yamamoto, 64, was born in Tokyo and raised as an only child by his mother, who made a living as a seamstress. His father died in World War II. Yohji graduated with a law degree from Keio University, then trained as a designer at Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo.
He founded the Y?s company in 1972 and soon became professionally involved with soul mate and Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo. They had a romantic relationship and remain close friends.
His empire comprises numerous lines and collaborations, including Yohji Yamamoto, Y?s, + Noir (the black line), Y?s for living (bed wear and accessories), Limi Feu (designed by his daughter, Limi Yamamoto), Y-3 (a crossover with sports brand adidas), Y?s Mandarina (a collaboration with accessory brand Mandarina Duck), Yohji Yamamoto Stormy Weather (a collaboration with jewellery brand Mikimoto) and Coming Soon (his latest line, which doesn?t display the designer?s name and is presented through video on YouTube). And with Hermès he?s launched the Yohji Bag, available only by special order at four Hermès boutiques worldwide.
Amid his tight schedule, Yamamoto runs other projects, such as collaborations on operas and films, as well as the Yohji Yamamoto Fund for Peace, which sponsors a Chinese designer to participate in an education programme in Japan or Europe along with a Chinese model to debut at Paris Fashion Week.
His career spans four decades and has garnered him several awards. But his work always seems to exude an autobiographical aftertaste, making use of war-inspired elements over and over. His fondness for women in military uniforms, his men?s spring/summer 2008 collection, which showed a subtle thread of a soldier?s homecoming, and his men?s autumn/winter 2008 show, with a martial drumbeat soundtrack, evince traces of his life story and his grappling with being a war widow?s son.
In
Beijing to present a Y?s fashion show, the designer moves silently
through the lobby of the Beijing Hotel, wearing one of his black
blazers and followed closely by his similarly black-clad team. He
appears unapproachable, his mind a million miles away. Yet he greets me
with a warm smile. Yamamoto places a box of chewing gum on the coffee
table, next to his cigarettes. Intensely focused, he seems relaxed and
happy to be here. Prior to answering a question, he gazes into the
distance, a faraway look on his face, before returning to the
conversation with some carefully chosen and heartfelt words.
Why did you collaborate with the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development? Why China?
I?ve considered what I, or a company, that has grown up after the war,
should do for China. As a post-war entrepreneur in Japan, a country
that has done great damage to China with the war, and also being a son
of a victim of war, I have the same feelings towards it. I should
devote and commit myself to doing something to encourage young Chinese
talent who would be able to lead the fashion industry in the future.
China has 4,000 years of history and is also the mother of Japanese
culture.
The Yohji Yamamoto Fund for Peace will sponsor a Chinese designer and model. What do you envision for them?
I divided the selection for the designers into three levels, and I hope
they can reach one of the levels. The one who could change the history
of fashion, the internationally known designer and the nationally known
designer [in China].
You?ve changed the history of fashion. How did your upbringing influence your designs? What experience shaped you the most?
First of all, when I graduated from university, I didn?t want to work.
I didn?t want to enter a company. I graduated from a sort of famous
university [Keio]. I studied law. But I was a very lazy student. That
university in Japan is very famous. You don?t have to make an effort to
get into a famous company. So as a student I became very lazy. I just
wanted to graduate. But I wanted to continue being a student . .
.forever, because I didn?t want to be in conflict with the society. I
was very lazy. So I asked my mother, who was a dressmaker for the
neighbourhood, ?Can I help you?? But she got very mad. My mother is a
war widow. I am her only son. She made a big and hard effort to raise
me, and she sent me to the famous university. She paid for everything,
with her hard work. So she was disappointed, and at the same time she
got mad. It was so terrible.
What did you do to assuage her disappointment?
She told me, ?You have to go to a fashion technical school. At least
you have to study cutting, because I have five sewers. If you don?t
have any knowledge about making clothing, the five sewers will treat
you like crap. So I said, ?Lucky me, I get to continue being a
student.? [He chuckles] At that moment I didn?t even know that there
existed such a job as fashion designer. I didn?t know that. So I went
to fashion technical school and studied cutting.
And that made your mother happy?
Not really.
Many people have noted that you?re very close to your mother.
That?s my fate. Can you imagine? A war widow, and I?m her only son.
So you carry much responsibility?
Naturally for boys, the mother lives in the heart . . . always. It?s
enough. I have one more mother next to me. I can see her in front of me
because she?s still alive. It has been very tough.
Has your relationship with your mother influenced your work?
No.
I just started working in my mother?s shop. I was taking orders from
the customers. Somebody?s wife, somebody?s girlfriend . . .
Your daughter has made a name for herself as a
designer. She jokingly told us that the worst and best thing about
fashion is you. What role does she play in your life?
She might be angry at me for saying this, but I have to be very honest
[chuckles]. At the end of junior high school, she became very naughty .
. . very naughty. She was part of a group, a bad group. She was
painting and drawing on the fence of the school, applying bad
vocabulary. She did almost everything the school didn?t like. So I got
a phone call from her grandfather. We had been living separately for 10
years, and her grandfather told me, ?Yohji, why don?t you come over
here. We cannot manage her. She is uncontrollable.? So I went to her
school and I apologised to the teachers, because I wanted the school to
write a paper that she graduated, at least from junior high school.
When we opened the door to the teacher?s office, on the other side of
the school building, all the windows were open, and so many girls
started shouting, ?Yohji! Yohji-san! I like your collection! I love
you!? And I replied, ?No, no, this is not the right time.? . . . And I
brought her over to Tokyo, and we lived together for five years, just
the two of us. She didn?t want to go to high school.
She wanted to design?
Not in the beginning. I always used to bring her along when I came to
Paris. Then she started looking at the famous designer fashion shows.
Maybe she was 16 or 17 years old. She saw the masterpieces. It was the
beginning of the ?80s, when fashion had its strongest moments. So she
saw some great shows. Then she started asking me, ?Father, can I go to
fashion school?? and I said ?Yes, you can go.? [Smiles]
She told us she doesn?t want to take over your business. And
you?ve said you?re concerned that her collections might not be
commercial enough.
Mine also! I have never done mainstream fashion ? from the beginning. I
was always against it. When I was asked by an American journalist,
?Yohji, do you think you are successful?? I answered, ?What do you mean
by success? Money? If you say money, I am not successful. But, for
example, influence, imagination or presence, in that meaning I am
comfortably successful, I would say.?
What?s your fashion philosophy?
It is that
civilised humans must wear monochrome. In other words, it is the
minimum etiquette of fashion that you should not disturb other people?s
vision. It is wrong to think that standing out is a good thing.
A few years ago you said you hated fashion and that you retired
long ago. How do you feel about that statement today? What drives you
to continue designing?
I noticed that I became an animal only to make clothing. If I retire .
. . maybe I will get old very, very soon. It?s like an animal that
loves food. Even though my brain and spirit want to retire, my body
reacts automatically when I see clothes. So I guess my retirement won?t
happen while my body responds in that way. For example, when I do a
fitting for the next collection, the models wear my outfits backstage
and then come out, and my body reacts, my soul reacts. So as long as my
soul responds, I will continue. That drives me to create.
What are you most proud of? Are you proud of your work?
Of
course. Otherwise you cannot continue. I can give you one example.
About 15 years ago, a young French journalist in Paris came to do an
interview, and he said, ?Mr Yamamoto, we grew up under your influence.?
This is very special, those proud French people admitting that.
I?ve heard that painting was your first dream. I believe you?re actually living your second dream.
Yes, from my childhood . . .
It?s not too late to follow another dream.
When I
look at famous painters, masterpieces, like Matisse or van Gogh . . .
There are so many in Paris and Madrid. I wasn?t inspired. I just felt
sort of a rivalry.
That?s why you don?t have paintings in your room.
[Chuckles] I hate having paintings in my room. But I need music in my
room. Music is my interest. You need to have time to paint, at least to
acquire a professional technique. It takes time.
Do you paint in your spare time?
I don?t paint at all.
Why did you use your own music for the show in Beijing?
Basically, my show doesn?t need any music. If I would need music to
make my collection stronger, it would be as if my clothes don?t have
enough power. Even if I found nice CDs, they would clash with my
clothes and both might fail, because they are already complete for a
definite purpose. The only reason I use music for my show is to relax
the audience. I wanted my show music to act as a background, which
could be called ?thin.? It means music played by a single instrument. I
don?t really like to use ?thick? music played by several instruments,
like an orchestra. My clothes should lead the show until the end. So I
thought it would be much quicker if I improvised than looking for a CD
which perfectly fits the show, since no one can imagine my show better
than myself.
Are you a perfectionist?
No, I?m very optimistic, Epicurean.
Tell
me your views on women, and the image you want women to represent. You
don?t like the pretty, sexy look, which many people see as the norm.
When I started my job, I hated that women were dressed up like dolls.
So I started to create a mannish style for women. In that sense, I feel
I have succeeded, but recently the tendency of fashion has become
?sexy? again.
You once said your intention was to design to help women suffer
less, to attain freedom and independence. Do you still feel that way?
Yes, in a way. But recently, women are becoming free and independent
more and more. So it?s getting difficult to express the theme, how I
want to show my creation next. I have the image in my mind, but it?s
difficult to express in words.
Who do you design for? Who is your muse?
She is
nonexistent . . . in this world. She is my imaginary woman. I can only
see her back, her hair is blowing in the wind, and she is smoking a
cigar. It?s a very psychological expression. I?m always imagining and
looking at women?s backs. It means I?m missing. I?m missing my mother.
I?m missing my love. Missing, missing, missing . . . forever. ?Don?t
go!? This is my image. For example, when a beautiful girl looks at me
in this distance, I get afraid. So when the girl is leaving, I feel
more comfortable. ?Don?t go, don?t go. I need you.? It?s a very
compressed feeling.
Now the roles are reversed. You?re the one looking after your mother. Is she still very demanding?
Now
she has become like Buddha. She says, ?I have no fear anymore. I can
die anytime. I?m happy. I am afraid of nothing.? So she is always
happy, and she also makes people happy. She has become like Buddha. She
isn?t woman anymore. She is beyond being a woman.
Does that make you happy?
Listen carefully now. At
92 years old, she still says, ?Yohji, you are the only reason why I am
living.? That?s heavy! So anyway, my life has been decided by three
fatal women. One is my mother. The second one is secret and the third
is secret. [Laughs]
Is your daughter one of them?
Umm . . . no. She?s okay. Now she has her own future. I?ve let her go.
Let?s get back to your mystery woman. Aren?t you curious? Don?t
you want to find out what she looks like? Wouldn?t you want to turn her
face towards you at some point?
Not really, but I can hear her. I can hear that she?s whispering.
?Yohji,? she says. ?I stopped being a woman.? And that sounded so sexy.
It?s controversial and very twisted. We would need 10 hours to discuss
that. [Smiles]
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