日本を代表するファッションデザイナー、ヨウジヤマモト（YOHJI YAMAMOTO）が4月1日に20年ぶりとなる東京でのメンズ・コレクションを代々木第二体育館で発表。ギャルソン川久保玲同様、これまでに沢山の歴史を作り上げてきたヨウジヤマモト。3600人もの客が30分のショーのためだけに足を運ぶのもヨウジヤマモトだからでは。20代前半から50-60代と幅広い年齢層のヨウジファンが駆け付け、一目見ようと皆エキサイティングだった（家族、ビジネスパートナー、顧客）。気になるモデルには、これまでのショーとは違い2人のファッションモデルに、俳優、ミュージーシャン（真木蔵人、椎名誠、宇梶剛士、加藤雅也、フィリップ・トルシエ、SABU監督、ムッシュ・かまやつ）と個性溢れるメンバーが揃っていた。また、華麗な演奏を披露したAlbatrusのメンバーもヨウジの衣装を身につけ、ウォーキングまでも披露。「日本男児」の個性溢れる一夜限りの特別ショーとでも言おう。東京に戻り日本のファッションシーンを意識しはじめたヨウジは何か彼にしかできないことを、もう一度やろうとしている。
Last night Yohji Yamamoto held his first Tokyo runway show in 20 years. 3,600 friends, family, business partners and loyal customers gathered in Yoyogi —– to watch ‘The Men’, the sun setting behind the distinctive building set the tone for the evening. The show started before the lights had gone down, a live band at the end of the runway providing a soundtrack as perfectly ‘Yohji’ and minimal as the clothes. The men who took part in ‘The Men’ show were well-kown Japanese, actors, musicians as sportsmen, many of which were the same age as Yamamoto himself, if not older. Forgive my ignorance but the only person I recognized was Zeebra. But that didn’t matter. Warm applause greeted each one as they ambled down the runway, the show was touching – it felt familiar, the models felt like old friends. In a more aggressive section of a show, two women in sunglasses pushed through four guys, it was in turn humorous and Avant-Garde – classic Yohji Yamamoto.
The show was so poignant it felt like a goodbye, but I was told later that Yamamoto-an had said backstage that this was an apology to his Japanese business partners for the financial trouble of the past year, a chance yo celebrate now and to move on. It was a wonderful thing to experience.