Yohji Yamamoto exhibits: The renowned Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto is back in the limelight with an avant-garde show in Milan, thirteen years after his last big retrospective at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. Among the most recognizable womenswear designs from Yamamoto’s 40-year career are on display in this new exhibition. This unique exhibition is hosted in the Galleria of the world-famous concept shop 10 Corso Como in Milan, adding a touch of prestige to the event. The exhibition will be on show until July 31.

 This carefully selected display honors Yamamoto’s severe reimagining of Western fashion. The exhibition takes place in a single room with white walls and showcases twenty-five of his works, hand-picked from the Paris and Japan archives of the label. These works span the impressive years of 1986–2024, offering a unique opportunity to witness the evolution of Yamamoto’s style. The designer may be most recognized for his mostly black collections, but this display features white pieces as well as the vibrant crimson that occasionally adorns his catwalks.

 The classic jackets and dresses that make up most of Yamamoto’s collection are immediately noticeable for their modernist style that has stood the test of time. These items are incredibly modern, even if they have been designed for decades. “Yohji Yamamoto: Letter to the Future” is a fitting title for the exhibition. An eye-catching item is a black coat from the 1986–1987 winter collection that showcases a false derrière made of ragged red silk strips. Contrast this with the most recent version of the design, which has undergone minimal volume updates for Fall/Winter 2024-25.

 Moreover, the show showcases Yamamoto’s painstaking dismantling of Western fashion clichés. He followed in the footsteps of his fellow Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo in 1981 by reshaping the fashion industry after relocating to Paris. For Yamamoto, the key to understanding and reimagining classic items like crinoline dresses and frock coats is taking them apart. This process of deconstruction and reimagining is a hallmark of his work. A thick red wool ensemble from Fall/Winter 1995–1996 includes a reimagined Bar jacket, a long draped skirt, and a New Look hat.

 Various aspects of Yamamoto’s style are showcased in each piece of the exhibition. An example of his hunt for a blueprint may be seen in an ecru cotton Spring/Summer 2000 costume that is adorned with a feather parasol and evokes pattern-making toile. An example of his investigation into graphic patterns and shapes is a bustier dress from the summer of 2005, which, with its pleats, resembles the feel of coral.

 The show curator, Alessio de’Navasques, made a comment about the duality in Yamamoto’s art. The most unexpected thing about Yohji Yamamoto’s art is the duality of temperament that it displays. He claimed that in his works, the artist achieves a balance between the sensuous and the carnal, as well as the spiritual and Zen. Galleria 10 Corso Como’s culture and fashion program is also overseen by De’Navasques, while contemporary art events are organized by Alessandro Rabottini. In early 2024, the cultural space of this concept store, which was originally planned by Carla Sozzani, was completely renovated by its current owner, Tiziana Fausti.

 By looking both backwards and forwards, this show further establishes Yamamoto as a leading figure in the field of fashion deconstruction and innovation. In a space that combines art, history, and contemporary, it provides a one-of-a-kind chance to interact with his imaginative work.