Yohji Yamamoto biography - 'My Dear Bomb'
![Yohji Yamamoto](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bq3u6kZa5UQiTMkPfpU2TB-415-80.jpg)
Avant-garde fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto has never been one to favour the formulaic and the predictable. No surprises then, that his first official biography doesn't take on a chronological narrative, but rather is a sweeping force of personal retrospect told through a blend of vivid flashbacks, ditties, poems and short fiction.
See more from Yohji Yamamoto's first official biography
The book is co-written by Al Mitsuda, who also worked with Yamamoto on his previous publications 'Talking to Myself' and 'Y's - Yohji Yamamoto'.
What sets this biography apart is the comfortably candid way Yamamoto endeavours to mix personal life recollections with his design ethos and creative processes.
Through his discussions on technique, fabric, silhouette and the like, even the quest for the perfect placement of a garment's button is recorded - 'The life or death of a garment depends on finding the point of rapture for that button. A garment may have three buttons, or six, but it is the location of that single button that is the key. The other buttons are but useful foot soldiers', Yamamoto states.
The book promises to delve into the mind of a celebrated 20th century design heavyweight, and it certainly works to remind us of Yamamoto's genius. Aptly reflecting in chapter two, Yamamoto muses, 'Here are some thoughts on vision. There is not much to the act of developing a project. The important part of a creative endeavour begins with an act of concentrated seeing, focused looking. Creativity will not flow from intellectual manipulations'.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published