Y3 goes surreal

[harrypothead]

The ghost of Salvador Dali, and maybe even Juliette Greco, glided along the runway show of Y-3 this season, as guests entered the Roseland Ballroom under a flock of taxidermy rooks, the Spanish artist’s fetish fowl.

Scores of the birds undulated above the audience as the show kicked off with a screen showing negative imagery of black crows gathered for migration.

The dark mood was continued on the faux anthracite catwalk and into the clothes, the blackest collection we have ever seen from Y-3, the five-year-old creative collaboration between Japanese design great Yohji Yamamoto and German sports giant adidas.

Greco did we say? Yes, the existentialist It Gal of Sixties Paris would have been at home in the black cardigans, shawls and flared skirts – all with the triple stripe trim – that traipsed around the catwalk. And Salvador would have dug the finale – a bride in a huge white cape, followed by a distraught widow, head covered in black ostrich plumes, her hands grasping a bunch ruby roses, all sprayed black. A death in the family any one? A chronicle of a death foretold?

Gothic this collection was but also a lot more purely fashion than before, since Y-3 has veered over its lifetime between fashion and active sports. But also a lot stricter in its silhouette, with snug biker leather jackets for gals and lean pea coats for boys.

In accessories, there were some great gray felt boots with leather trim and great leather bowling bags, a neat idea, as Y-3 luggage has already established a cult status among Europe’s young. However, there was a tad too much logo overload, as Y-3 appeared everything from gingham ties to down vests.

And, often, the logos were accompanied by bizarre giant guns on cardigans and, once again, bird imagery, which even included felt feathers applied to two models’ shoulders.

No wonder Suzy Menkes had a slight orinthophobia panic attack, needing to be comforted in the back stage before the show.