In the 1989 documentary film, Notebook on Cities and Clothes, director Wim Wenders recalls the first time he tried on a Yohji Yamamoto jacket and the extraordinary sense of protection it elicited. In the film’s voiceover, he remarks, “I felt protected like a knight in his armour.” This has always been Yamamoto’s vision. The designer, who turned 80 last October, has spent the better part of five decades creating everyday armour out of fabric. Using volume, drapery and monochrome palettes, Yamamoto’s garments serve to shroud the body, rendering it elusive to the human eye.

For the Men’s Spring/Summer 2025 season, Yamamoto presented a collection that was at once ephemeral and resolute. Flowing silhouettes constructed out of silk harnessed the transience of movement, while graphic embellishments—including Japanese calligraphy, floral photo prints and slogans—provided high-octane bursts of colour. Although black has long been Yamamoto’s preferred shade, recent seasons have seen the designer expand upon his palette, using pinks, blues and purples to punctuate his collections.

Referencing traditional Japanese garments such as the hakama pant, the happi jacket and the kimono, this collection prioritises width over length. Slow-moving models sauntered down the runway, enclosed in their cocoons of lightweight suits and web-like knits. Charlotte Rampling made a surprise entrance during the second half of the show, emerging on the runway in a black ensemble consisting of check balloon pants, suspenders and a felt hat. A few moments later, she returned for the finale, dressed in an asymmetrical white shirt lightly adorned with Japanese calligraphy. It was a true celebration of the house’s androgynous spirit and an ode to its Fall/Winter 1998 menswear show, for which Rampling also walked.

A certain punk inflection permeated the collection. Across the 37 looks, we observed frayed sneakers, heavy metal necklaces, uneven hemlines, deconstructed collars and lacerated knitwear. Grounded in Yamamoto’s lifelong devotion to wabi-sabi, this collection celebrates the raw and unrefined. It’s a collection for daily life—transient, imperfect, complete.