Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto has unveiled his first “collaboration platform” concept project that will feature a store opening. The “Wildside Yohji Yamamoto” project emphasizes the brand’s distinctive aesthetics on a digital platform that showcases exclusive partnerships in fashion, design, and the arts with companies like Dr. Martens, Ambush, and Needles.
The “Wildside, Yohji Yamamoto” initiative is evidence of the designer’s propensity to think outside the box, much as his creations frequently overflow exhibition spaces and beg to be touched, as in the case of his 2005 exhibition “Juste des vêtements” at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. With “Wildside,” an interactive virtual experience matching the revolutionary identity of the brand, he yet again initiates that conversation by making his practice a hybridization between fashion, art, architecture, and design, divided into the three groups “Fashion,” “Art,” and “Content”.
Yohji Yamamoto has been a key protagonist in the Anti-Fashion movement since the release of his very first collection, “Y’s,” in 1981. This trend emerged in the 1990s and was influenced by grunge culture and reflected fatigue with the pristine world of luxury. Yamamoto developed a singular vision that challenged gender expectations and reevaluated our connection to clothing. The designer’s sombre creations worn by models with spectral gaits have left their impact on the fashion industry ever since, through a nuanced interaction between the limitation of the body and the freedom of personality.
The new brand will recreate parts of the Yohji Yamamoto brand for a unisex fashion line that incorporates the terms “military,” “work,” and “sports”. Through exhibitions and one-of-a-kind paintings, the line will partner with galleries and artists as part of its art offering. A “Content” page on its online network also offers interviews and articles with partner brands, with periodic updates planned to be released.
The Wildside Yohji Yamamoto brand also has plans to launch a flagship in Japan in the fall of 2022 in order to advance its omnichannel presence.
Tala is an Editorial Intern at Liminul. She’s a creative writer/director, graphic designer, and event coordinated based in Toronto. Tala is a third year student majoring in Fashion Communications at X University.