The Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto and the sports goods manufacturer Adidas from Herzogenaurach have been working together for more than two decades. To celebrate their longstanding partnership and the existence of the joint Y-3 brand, the collaboration partners are now launching Y-3 Atelier.
Y-3 Atelier is a new expression of the Y-3 brand and focuses on craftsmanship and innovative design, Adidas announced on Thursday. The Atelier collection is based on patterns from Yohji Yamamoto catwalk pieces and provides them with the three-stripe design by Adidas. The brand promises to merge the avant-garde spirit of the Japanese designer and the performance-oriented world of Adidas even more closely. As part of this, dresses, tracksuits, jackets, skirts and pants, among other things, are to be reinterpreted.
The collection draws on “monozukuri,” a Japanese word for “making things” or “craftsmanship,” and a craft-oriented creative approach. This should reflect Yamamoto’s “production approach characterized by skill and dedication”, according to the people from Herzogenaurach.
“The three stripes are so charming and so strong at the same time. Putting three white stripes in black is very strong. That got me excited.” said Yamamoto, whose collaboration with Adidas dates back to 2001, even before the first official Y-3 collection. What started with shoes and three stiffeners became a Spring/Summer 2003 collaboration that would change the world of fashion and sportswear.Partnerships between designers and sporting goods manufacturers are no longer revolutionary – Kerby Jean-Raymond for Reebok, Gucci and Adidas, Haider Ackermann for Fila – but it was Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas who launched these collaborations pave the way.
Today, Y-3 has an identity of its own, different from that of the two collaborators, but shaped by their aesthetic and philosophy. With the launch of Y-3 Atelier, the label now seems to be merging more closely with one of its founding fathers.
Y-3 Atelier is available March 2-3 and March 5 in a pop-up hosted by Canadian online fashion retailer Ssense at 42 Rue de Sévigné in Paris. Visitors are invited to explore, try on and buy the collection. In addition, the works of photographer Daido Moriyama, who photographed the collection, will be exhibited in the temporary retail space.
