Yohji Yamamoto is amongst the many designers who have collaborated with the arts by creating an exhibition of his work, which is being shown at the Victoria and Albert museum in London. The exhibition is arranged in an open space with white walls, making it appear something like a warehouse. Along the white walls are sketches created by Yamamoto that focus heavily on the female form. “This is my idea for a woman’s body,” says Yamamoto, “I like the curve line of a woman’s back. I always watch her silhouette in the streets.”
The pieces within the exhibit itself appear to be placed randomly, but are in fact positioned in a very specific order. The reason for this sort of lay out is to demonstrate the evolution of the work of Yohji Yamamto, and how each collection further distinguishes his point of view as an artist. This conceptual exhibition serves to reinforce this idea, that Yamamoto is an artist rather than a designer, and takes fashion from an industry of costumes to one of artwork.
Other designers who have created exhibitions for various museums include Lanvin for Miami’s Rubell Museum, and will soon include Philip Treacy who plans to curate an exhibition at London’s Tate Modern. The Alexander McQueen exhibition, Savage Beauty, shown at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum Of Art, also celebrates McQueen as an artist. The structure of this exhibition was created to reassure the audience that the legend and lifestyle that is Alexander McQueen will live on well after his passing. With fashion constantly changing, creating an exhibition of this magnitude in the states as opposed to his native country of England, was strategically decided in order for the brand to maintain momentum in the US market. When the face behind a brand is gone, sometimes clients need a little reassurance. Exhibitions like these of Yamamoto and McQueen are a reminder that although fashion can seem superficial, within this industry lies real depth.
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