Yohji Yamamoto exhibits at number 10 Corso Como in Milan

Thirteen years after the last major Yohji Yamamoto retrospective at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Japanese designer once again takes center stage in a small, careful avant-garde exhibition in Milan. It is the opportunity to rediscover some of the most emblematic feminine looks created by the Japanese master of deconstruction over the last 40 years. Yamamoto's work is displayed in the Galleria section of the renowned Milanese concept store 10 Corso Como, where it will be on display until July 31.

A single white-painted room houses 25 Yamamoto creations, selected from the brand's archives in Paris and Japan, spanning the period from 1986 to 2024. In addition to the Japanese designer's obsessively black looks, the exhibition features several garments in white and in the scarlet red that sometimes illuminates the Yamamoto parades.

The first striking element is the modernity of Yamamoto's creations, mostly classic dresses and coats, even though they have been designed over several decades. In fact, it is no coincidence that the exhibition is called 'Yohji Yamamoto: Letter to the Future'. A black coat whose back features disheveled strips of red silk gathered in a false back, dating from Fall/Winter 1986-87, is presented in front of its current version, retouched only in the volumes, for Fall/Winter 2024-25.

The other element highlighted by the exhibition is the way in which Yamamoto, who revolutionized fashion when he moved to Paris in 1981 – like his compatriot Rei Kawakubo – has worked meticulously with the archetypes of Western fashion, deconstructing them to understand and transform them better. From crinoline dresses and frock coats, as in a look for Fall/Winter 1995-96 in which she combines a kind of Bar jacket reinterpreted with a long draped skirt, combined with a New Look hat, all of them made of thick red wool .

Each model reveals a different facet of the Yamamoto aesthetic. For example, her search for a model, evident in a Spring/Summer 2000 ensemble in raw cotton similar to the pattern's toile, poetically enhanced by a feather umbrella. And her exploration of graphic motifs and shapes, exemplified by a bustier dress from the summer of 2005 whose folds recall the texture of corals.

“The most surprising thing is the twin temperament that characterizes Yohji Yamamoto's work. In his creations he manages to be simultaneously zen and spiritual on the one hand, and carnal and sensual on the other,” said Alessio de'Navasques, curator of the exhibition. He is also in charge of the culture and fashion program at Galeria 10 Corso Como, while Alessandro Rabottini oversees its contemporary art events. The cultural space of the concept store, the creation of Carla Sozzani, was completely renovated and modernized at the beginning of 2024, according to the vision of Tiziana Fausti, current owner of 10 Corso Como.