Editor’s Notice: We proceed our custom of increasing the Vogue Runway archive by digitizing collections initially shot on movie, specializing in exhibits from the previous that talk to the preoccupations of at the moment. Right here, the spring 1997 lineup from Yohji Yamamoto, which examined the historical past of Western vogue, beginning with Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. This spring 1997 assortment was initially offered in Paris on October 12, 1996.
Let’s hope that the discussions about girls’s place in vogue aren’t only a pattern, however turn out to be a precedence. “Ladies Dressing Ladies” on the Met lastly offers feminine designers their due. So did Yohji Yamamoto’s spring 1997 present. The opening appears clearly referenced Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, who designed for ladies on the transfer—motion figures, if you’ll. Yamamoto himself acquired busy deconstructing the traditional tweed cardigan go well with, displaying a model with unfinished hems and pairing it with exaggerated males’s button-downs and shirts with Byronesque frills.
Subsequent up was a group of “dandies” wearing black, after which got here hourglass appears that performed opaque off towards clear, and nonetheless extra extremely structured items. A protracted, curvy silhouette accessorized with an attenuated parasol recalled a drawing by Mary Cassatt, On the Museum, whereas a New Look go well with and umbrella evoked René Gruau’s drawings for Dior.
Bringing issues again to the current had been plenty of ensembles product of a humble and lightweight muslin-like materials that functioned like black canvases; after them got here kaleidoscopic explosions of shade and sample. Esther de Jong, with bed-tousled hair, walked the runway in a royal blue gown with triangle-shaped cut-outs framed with colourful beadwork executed in India. Dévoré velvets had been one other smooth and colourful addition to the gathering, whereas dramatic, natural silver jewellery gave it some edge.
The finale appears had been a sequence of draped attire and dramatic hats; Carolyn Murphy wore all white, Jodie Kidd inky black, and Kirsty Hume the sunny yellow of a brand new day. This gown could be learn as a manifestation of Yamamoto’s saying: “’With my eyes turned to the previous, I stroll backwards into the longer term.”
