Yohji used to say Menswear was limited compared to Womenswear.
Limited in terms of the variety of clothing you can wear. Consequently, Yohji paid more attention to the little details… The depth of the pockets, their position on the garment, the choice of the buttons or the closures, the ornamental or the functional features, and so on… But above all, for Yohji, Menswear is mostly about a state of mind, a way of Life.
Since the collaboration with Yasuto Sasada in the A/W14-15 collection, Yohji has been establishing a whole new relation between Art and Fashion. A lot of his pieces in his recent collections feature some sort of graphical design, a pictorial motif, or even some words, carefully put on the garments by way of prints, bleachings, embroideries, patchworks, etc...
It is a known fact that Yohji doesn’t use much color in his collections, especially because colors necessarily imply something, some sort of meaning, even a cultural connotation in some cases.
The neutrality of his signature black is convenient for him as a canvas to embellish his clothing with his own artwork.

“(…) Today’s show was another masterclass on the subject. It opened in black and in black it closed, coming across as a bit clerical and decidedly nonchalant. The shapes were particularly slouchy and the boots, as always, stompy. The Finale, with models marching slowly to John Lennon’s Imagine was touching: a poignant protest against our divisive times (…)”

By Angelo Flaccavento for BOF