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Yohji Yamamoto
Launched in 1981, Yohji Yamamoto's namesake label is a higher-priced offshoot of his original Y's line. Never conventionally sexy or trendy (Cathy Horyn of the New York Times has said, "Mr. Yamamoto likes to dissolve sartorial boundaries"), Yamamoto appeals to clients who appreciate wit, romance, and fashion history. Although his palette is somber, he's never funereal; there's too much off-kilter joie de vivre in the floppy, flowing, sensual fabrics to bring down the mood. His menswear, launched in 1984, evinces the same gallery-friendly grandeur as his womenswear, apparent in the dark, textured jackets and voluminous trousers. The ahead-of-the-curve, gender-bending label is critically lauded, and it's lucrative too; the designer was given a nod from Japan's Ministry of Economy in 2005 for executing a model brand. Flagships have become an international enterprise, with outposts in Tokyo, Paris, London, and New York. In addition to the "more everyday" (read: slightly less expensive) original Y's line, which was launched in 1972 and continues to showcase heavy knits and parkas, there's also his collaborative label with Adidas (Y-3), Y's Red Label (designed by Michiko Suzuki), Limi Feu (eponymously designed by Yamamoto's daughter), a lower-priced diffusion line called Coming Soon, and a luggage line with Mandarina Duck, called Y's Mandarina.
