Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of attending Yohji Yamamoto’s Spring/Summer 2011 Menswear show. This was particularly interesting for two reasons. First of all, as soon as the first model stepped on the catwalk a sense of familiarity set in. Dressed in an off-white linen jacket with cross-stitch patches of embroidery, a light purple shirt with a bow and cropped trousers in a rich floral pattern seemingly inspired by William Morris, he looked liked he had been dipped in the V&A’s collections. As the show continued to unfold, I noticed another potential nod to our upcoming exhibition: the lighting! As you may have read in my earlier posts, our exhibition designer Masao Nihei is also a close long-term collaborator of Mr. Yamamoto’s. This fashion show was lit by him and the squares of fluorescents suspended above the models at Yamamoto’s base in Paris, are a small hint at what you can expect to see when you come and see the exhibition at the V&A next year. It will look very interesting indeed!
