Yohei Ohno (Q3715)
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Yohei Ohno is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Yohei Ohno |
Yohei Ohno is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
“My last collection was about my childhood and my own experiences, but this time I wanted to do the opposite and explore something I had never experienced before: the so-called luxury world.” So said Yohei Ohno after his fall show, which took place inside Tokyo’s Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum. For a kid who grew up in the Japanese countryside, away from any sense of glitz and glamor, it was an exercise in addressing luxury as an alien concept.The clothes––toweled bathrobes, comfy tracksuits, silk blouses, and dramatic dresses––showed the naive ideals of what Ohno interpreted as a moneyed lifestyle. “It’s about the life of the rich as seen from the perspective of a non-rich person, and the adult world as seen from a child’s perspective,” he explained. Coats swept asymmetrically to the side, cascades of fabric slung over the arm: a caricature pose of what Ohno imagined as a wealthy woman carrying a handbag. Elsewhere, architectural vests (that were actually handbags) were decorated with argyle prints, and Ohno applied his fake-sportswear-inspired logo from last season to golf shirts––again a nod to that high-low mix. Vivienne Westwood’s draping had also been an influence––you could see it clearly in the twisted dresses––but Ohno is good at putting his own spin on things.He’d also taken a cheeky snipe at what he saw as a peculiarly Japanese ideal of luxury, and referenced Burberry Blue Label—a now defunct brand in Japan that licensed the designs of the British company, often to questionable effect—as another ironic point of reference. “I wanted to make fun of the sense of luxury that Japanese people have. I wonder why everyone is trying to imitate European luxury brands,” he said. It’s a great question, and refreshing to see a Tokyo designer address it with such self-awareness and humor.Overall he’d given himself a tough concept to reckon with, and it wasn’t clear by the end of the show if he’d properly worked it out, but Ohno has an undeniably unique point of view that is always a pleasure to witness. To see it at its best, this collection was about confronting an uneasy sense of yearning: yearning across the vast chasm between country bumpkin and city slicker; the struggling masses yearning for more; and, maybe, a young sensitive kid from nowhere in particular, peering out at the wider world with all its unnameable pretensions, and yearning to be a part of it.
13 March 2024
A lonely boy from a small town, escaping an unhappy home life to try and make it in the big city—a familiar story for many and one that Yohei Ohno certainly recognizes. For spring, the 36-year-old designer plunged into his own version of this age-old tale, with a bittersweet collection that drew on a difficult childhood. He called it New Town, New Car.Earlier this year Ohno returned to his hometown in Aichi prefecture (a place he left over 15 years ago) to research sporty fabrics, but was blindsided by a family photo album that contained pictures of him smiling as a child. From there, his ideas for the season began to unfold. “I have never made a personal collection before, and my family is my weak point. I thought that if I delved too deeply into them, my heart would be torn out,” he said candidly after the show.The introspective approach is new for Ohno, who in the past has focused on external artistic influences. He’s a particular fan of architects, geometric artists, and technology, all of which lends his womenswear a robotic, vintage sci-fi feel that has a touch of J.G. Ballard-ish perversion to it. Darkness has hitherto bubbled somewhere under the surface of his work, but this season he drove into it head-on. “In previous collections I was inspired by new things from the outside, but this time I felt that I had to face the pain of my own traumatic experiences, in order to create a more personal collection,” he said.The soul-searching gave Ohno’s work a new level of depth—and also a sense of humor. A white lace dress was adorned with what looked like fine blue feathers, but which in close-up turned out to be plastic price tag fasteners. Elsewhere, rainbow polka-dot trousers had been made with fabric inspired by LeSportsac bags—known as a stereotypically unfashionable (but practical) accessory popular among country bumpkins in Japan—while sports jerseys had been artfully warped to show skin, or pinned and draped into louche silhouettes.The details were intentionally démodé, recalling the unglamorousness of provincial life while also turning an ironic lens on the contemporary trend for sportswear as fashion statement. “I don’t play sports, so I intentionally tried to express this unstylish image I have of sportswear,” he said.
The curves and bright colors of schoolyard rugby balls inspired the exaggerated first looks, and the blurry memories of his dad’s car combined with a Tesla cybertruck inspired the last ones, a literal expression of the tension between memories of the past and dreams for the future.The final two looks featured veils printed with vignettes of his family photographs, memories floating on the fabric. Ohno’s parents and older sister were present at the show, and tears were shed. Sometimes home is the hardest place to go.
2 September 2023
“I don’t want the world to view me as a Japanese designer; I want them to see me in my own right,” said Yohei Ohno during his fall presentation at a gallery in Shibuya. It’s an understandable protest, especially given how guilty the fashion press can be of boxing up a designer based on where they’re from. This season Ohno worked on breaking out of that shell with a collection inspired by his idiosyncratic view of clothing, to create pieces that were “something ordinary, somehow lovely.”This meant a decidedly eccentric approach that intentionally went against what Ohno called a “mainstream” vision of luxury. Though totally brand-new in fabrication and design, it was an impressionist interpretation of worn-out vintage clothing. There were high-collared wrap coats, miniskirts that were fashioned in tough cotton reminiscent of military wear, and sequined slips stamped with graphic prints. Ohno dislikes the tedious ubiquity of T-shirts, and so instead made fun T-shirt-shaped handbags, or fine turtlenecks that were printed with purple jags of lightning that recalled metal band tees that you might pick up at a thrift store.The brand introduced footwear for the first time this season and brought in the shoe designer Ikue Enomoto to help. Heeled pumps were made from sheepskin, and flanked by tubing details that made them feel futuristic and industrial. Those distinctive curves—which also appeared on utilitarian skirts and nylon leggings—were inspired by the arms of Cassina chairs (Ohno is a furniture design fan).Taking sci-fi elements from industrial product design and turning them into wearable garments is something Ohno does particularly well. There’s room for him to push this more, and to temper and twist his introspection and contrarianism respectively. You can spot a Yohei Ohno piece from a mile away. He’s a unique designer and he’s at his best when he leans into that quirkiness.
15 March 2023
If retro-futurist, industrial-cyborg Germanic glamour wasn’t a thing already, Yohei Ohno’s Fall collection made it one. Soundtracked by Klaus Nomi, the show was inspired by the 1920s Bauhaus movement, as well as iconic furniture design by Irish architect Eileen Grey.Despite the historical references, Ohno’s debut Tokyo runway collection was confidently contemporary—and not because of the space-age feel it had. Seat-belt straps were fastened across tops like harnesses or dangled from the waist as belts, and funneled quilted gloves flanked the silhouette like airplane turbines. This vehicle theme permeated throughout and evoked a kind of mechanical sexuality—if J. G. Ballard’sCrashis ever given a remake, Ohno is the costume designer for the job. Subtle metallic copper boots peeked out from beneath gunmetal gray skirts and army green jackets, and aeronautical engineering plans were printed onto thick quilted dresses. Touches of femininity offset the industrial side of the lineup and came through in delicately ruffled bronze and slate camisoles and black and pink chiffon. Explaining the chunky metal cuffs that coiled around arms like car suspension parts, Ohno said, “I like the idea of a piece of metal that you’re not sure if it’s jewelry or machinery.” The clever playfulness paid off.
27 March 2017