Yohji Quotes

Black is modest and arrogant at the same time. Black is lazy and easy - but mysterious. But above all black says this: "I don’t bother you - don’t bother me".

I think perfection is ugly. Somewhere in the things humans make, I want to see scars, failure, disorder, distortion.

Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find yourself.

For me, a woman who is absorbed in her work, who does not care about gaining one’s favour, strong yet subtle at the same time, is essentially more seductive. The more she hides and abandons her femininity, the more it emerges from the very heart of her existence.

My role in all of this is very simple. I make clothing like armor. My clothing protects you from unwelcome eyes.

To be modern is to tear the soul out of every thing

Fashion sighs after trends. I want timeless elegance. Fashion has no time. I do. I say: Hello Lady, how can I help you? Fashion has no time to even ask such a question, because it is constantly concerned with finding out: What will come next? It is more about helping women to suffer less, to attain more freedom and independence.

I exist here, now. I'm not much interested in the future. Or, more precisely put, I do not believe in the future. To exaggerate a little, I have no faith that I will still exist tomorrow or the day after. What is more, I absolutely detest retrospection. That dislike is balances only by my desire to make my way back home as quickly as possible.

I don’t think we should try to make space our own. I believe that as modern people we should live in mobility. We should always be moving.

With my eyes turned to the past, I walk backwards into the future.

I believe that there are three conditions to a woman’s beauty. First, you must realize that not all women are beautiful all of the time. Sometimes beauty comes on a subconscious level. When she is in love, or has met someone new and exciting, she shines. Second, you must understand that life is unfair. Beauty is something that, for some, must be worked at. The third condition is luck. Some women can just be lucky.

Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self.” —Yohji Yamamoto

My whole life is made up of: "I'm sorry". I feel like I have to apologize to people, to things, to life itself. It's like, "I'm sorry to be here". I don't want to disturb anyone. But in my work, in the clothes I create, I'm actually telling people that I'm here. So, I guess I'm disturbing them, after all.

It meant something to me – the idea of a coat guarding and hiding a woman’s body. For me, a woman who is absorbed in her work, who does not care about gaining one’s favor, strong yet subtle at the same time, is essentially more seductive. The more she hides and abandons her femininity, the more it emerges from the very heart of her existence.

Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self.'-Yohji Yamamoto

I am an animal making clothes.

In my philosophy, the wry androgyny doesn't have any meaning. I think there is no difference between men and women. We are different in bod, but sense, spirit and soul are the same

In my philosophy, the word androgyny doesn't have any meaning. I think there is no difference between men and women. We are different in body, but sense, spirit and soul are the same.

Creation is lifework, creation is how… you spend your life, you cannot divide life on the creation, it’s impossible. Shut your eyes, close your ears, don’t use your brain, use your heart, your soul, hands, fingers. I shout; live your creative life, live your creative life.

Adidas produced a limited-edition pair of Haçienda trainers, designed by Yohji Yamamoto (Saville has worked with Yohji since the late 1980s, creating his catalogues and advertisements). They retailed for £345 but people queued up from midnight just to be first through the doors to buy a pair. The shoes disappeared in twenty minutes - all soled out.