Kansai Yamamoto was a celebrated designer, remembered today as a pioneer in the world of bold street style and contemporary fashion. He is best remembered for his David Bowie designs in the early 70’s. Born in 1944 in Yokohama, Japan, Yamamoto discovered his artistic calling after studying civil engineering, which led him to pursue formal studies in fashion towards the late 60’s. Rejecting the westernized post-war fashion of the time, Yamamoto embraced basara, a style known for its exuberance, vivid prints and attention-grabbing designs. As a result, his fashion style was anything but monotonous; it defied the norm in a playful and radical way.
Traditional Japanese art and kabuki theater played a major role in Yamamoto’s designs. Through the use of exaggerated shapes and proportions, alongside bold kabuki mask prints, he transformed street fashion into a performance of self-expression. In 1971, he became the first Japanese fashion designer to debut in London Fashion Week, catching the attention of rock n’ roll superstar and fashion icon David Bowie. Both quickly bonded over their interest for theater and radical fashion, leading Yamamoto to design Bowie’s performance outfits during his Ziggy Stardust era, including the legendary Tokyo Pop vinyl suit. Intense face makeup, platform boots, and gender-bending bodysuits were all part of the language the designer used when creating the artist’s costumes, which are just as iconic as the persona of Stardust.
Almost twenty years after Yamamoto and Bowie’s collaboration, the designer took theatrical fashion to the next level by producing massive international festivals known as super-shows, the first of which was celebrated in Moscow in 1993. After a long pause from the fashion industry, Yamamoto made a comeback in 2013, when some of his past works were exhibited alongside new designs at Fashion In Motion, a fashion show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The designer also collabed with Louis Vuitton for a kabuki-themed collection, shown at LV’s 2018 Cruise show.
After Yamamoto’s untimely death at age 76 in 2020, his legacy is still very much alive and has inspired the fashion industry. From outfits worn by artists such as Lady Gaga and Karen O, to events merging music and fashion (such as Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty shows) and even high fashion runways from Moschino to Marc Jacobs, the conceptual and artistic vision behind Yamamoto’s designs is ever present and evolving.