This season, Y-3 returns for the second half of its year-long 20th Anniversary celebrations. Confidently entitled “20 Years Re-Coded”, the Fall/Winter 2022 collection builds on the thematic impetus of its Spring/Summer predecessor, looking back constructively on signature looks, visceral concepts, elevated materials, unconventional silhouettes, and iconic moments from the brand’s history. Rather than rose-tinted nostalgia, however, Y-3 channels the inherently rebellious spirit of Yohji Yamamoto, revisiting the brand’s past to boldly confront the future.
Divided into three key seasonal chapters, the Fall/Winter 2022 collection represents the final installment of the brand’s anniversary offering. Exploring the theme of collective memory through three concepts – Memories of Orange, Memories of Football, and Memories of Exotics – the collection audaciously subverts key moments from Y-3’s past, with a provocative view to a reimagined future.
Chapter 1, referring to the concept of Memories of Orange, sees Y-3 reinterpret one of the most important and eye-catching colors from the brand’s archive. A synonymous symbol for Y-3, Orange has been the primary color of the brand’s logo for many years. For the First chapter of the season, adidas and Yohji Yamamoto shine a light on this most iconic of signifiers, contrasting the luminosity of the Orange pantone with black and neutral palettes.
Following this, for Fall/Winter 2022 Chapter 2, Y-3 revisits its relationship with the world of sport through a concept fittingly dubbed: Memories of Football. A core tenet of adidas’ history, for this Chapter, Yohji Yamamoto draws on past collaborations with footballing icons such as Real Madrid in order to subvert unconventional sporting silhouettes through his inimitable lens. Arriving in time for the first ever winter World Cup, Y-3 daringly confronts preconceived notions of sporting aesthetics through new takes on football crest logos, reimagined team sponsor graphics, and dynamic cut-lines.
Chapter 3, meanwhile, is centered on a distinctly textural concept: Memories of Exotics. For this chapter, adidas and Yohji Yamamoto fearlessly explore animal prints and iconography, reimagining historic looks for a new era. This chapter draws on Yohji Yamamoto’s inherently rebellious spirit as Y-3 presents a slew of distorted all-over leopard print graphics.
