WWD: After your Y-3 10th anniversary show in New York, you said that “in the world right now, fashion is s–t.” Can you elaborate on what you meant by that?
YOHJI: Let me talk like an old man. Young people, be careful. Beautiful things are disappearing every day. Be careful.…You don’t need to be [shopping at fast-fashion stores], especially young people. They are beautiful naturally, because they are young. So they should even wear simple jeans and a T-shirt. It’s enough. Don’t be too much fashionable.…The brand advertising is making you crazy. You don’t need to be too sexy. You are sexy enough.
Has Anybody Here Seen My Old Friend Martin?
Published: March 13, 2005
Some would argue that Martin Margiela is the coolest man in fashion. He’s certainly the most elusive. Since the Belgian wunderkind set up shop in Paris in 1988, no one has seen a picture of him, and no face-to-face interviews have been granted. Margiela sees his role as a philosopher, rethinking the basic premise of clothing — how it is sized and sold, how it interacts with the body — with his team of white-coated assistants. Over the years, this has resulted in frayed ball gowns, reversed seams, cloven-toed boots and, when he was designing for Hermes, the most perfectly cut pants and jackets on the planet. Now, with his high-flying partner, Renzo Rosso of Diesel, and a new, industrial-strength business plan, Margiela is hotter than ever. How to scale the ramparts and dispel the mystery? We figured that if anybody could do it, it would be that fashion and music provocateur, Malcolm McLaren. Herewith, the beginning of a correspondence.
dec. 15, 2004
Dear Martin, we know each other, I believe, but have never met. I certainly don’t know what you look like and have even contemplated the thought that you may be a ghost! do you exist? Sometimes I think not. but with that in mind, I am writing to you to find out. Let me begin by saying I wear your clothes but can’t help wondering if you have ever worn mine. were you ever in london in the 70’s and 80’s? because somehow, I feel we are connected. your clothes are just a little more grown up, that’s all. a more serious, maoist approach.
(Source: The New York Times)
