Yohji Yamamoto took Y-3 off the beaten path for Fall. The journey was the destination. "Our generation—you can call it the beatnik generation or the Vietnam War generation; we have been called hippies—our generation has been traveling all around the world, by walking," he whispered after the show. "Now the young people don't make this kind of travel. I want to catch this spirit [and give it] back to young people."
Y-3 is a performance-based label, but the clothes Yamamoto showed looked readier for braving the elements at the campsite than for hitting the treadmill. The shapes were protective, cocooning around the body, emphasizing volume. For women, giant skirts ballooned under long flannels for a slightly pioneer-maiden look. For men, it was more militaristic: patchwork suits with contrast cargo pockets, army parkas, loose, low padded shorts.
It was a world away from last season's rock-concert collection, and much more successful, too. You never could have seen it coming, but then, with Yamamoto, you seldom can. As he explained philosophically, "A journey makes you change; a journey makes you find something else." Speaking of, his journey with Adidas—the Y-3 collection itself—turns ten this year.