Yohji Yamamoto has become synonymous with an unconventional approach to fashion, one that usually involves the skillful use of the color black and extreme proportions, while also managing to inspire emotion.

His new retrospective at the Victoria & Albert museum in London marks nearly 40 years since Yohji set up his first women’s ready-to-wear label, Y’s, in 1972, and 30 years since he launched his Yohji Yamamoto label in Paris.
At the heart of the groundbreaking designer’s work, and reflected in the show, is his deep interest in textiles. “Fabric,” he said, “is everything.”

Yohji became internationally renowned in the early ’80s for challenging the prevailing notions of fashion at the time. Generally concealing rather than revealing the female form, he designed garments that were oversized, raw, unfinished and imperfect, while exploring gender dress codes. He made use of masculine fabrics and used atypical materials, such as neoprene.

This exhibition is also the first to include his menswear, first launched in Paris in 1984.
“With my eyes to the past I walk backwards into the future,” Yohji has aptly said.

The exhibition will run until July 14th at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Read the original blog post here on Hint.