Editor’s Note: This collection was originally launched in Paris on March 16, 1995 and has been digitized as part of Vogue Runway’s ongoing effort to document historic fashion shows.
“Business on the front, party on the back” works well to describe the most dramatic look of Yohji Yamamoto’s fall 1995 ready-to-wear collection. First explored in 1986. “The focus on the back is typical of Eastern dressing modes that traditionally emphasize the elegance of women ‘seen from behind’, such as in Japanese ukiyo-e prints.” ‘ said the Costume Institute curator of the 1995 show.
Throughout his career, Yamamoto has dismantled historical western clothing and collaged elements of it with traditional Japanese clothing. And he has his 360-degree field of view, paying as close attention to the back and sides of the garment as he does the front. Soft construction and airy materials like mesh allowed him to achieve the solid engineering his 19th century needed.
A group of thick knit coats that are soft to the touch but have a solid feel. Deconstructed cobwebs of knits and velvets join the collection’s symphony of textures, using a limited, almost subdued palette. At the time, clothes were likened to the widow’s weeds. Watching them from almost 30 years away, I read them differently. The combination of him and her reads to me like a subtle celebration of female power.
