Yohji Yamamoto as HIMSELF

As a buildup to his 10-year anniversary with Adidas, Yohji Yamamoto has stripped down the way he works in a new documentary.

Compelling as it is to see how closely the designer examines the drape of his designs and how he crouches on the floor to review rows of models’ head shots, the film’s most poignant moments happen when Yamamoto simply stands in front of the camera, speaking about his life and ideology.  The opening scene makes clear that the movie will delve deeper than branding. “I’m an epicurean. I’m an anarchist. I hate power,” said Yamamoto.

Produced by Harbor Film Co., “Yohji Yamamoto: This Is My Dream” tracks the designer from Tokyo to Manhattan in the monthlong lead-up to a Y-3 runway show during New York Fashion Week. Although the 30-minute documentary is a brand building tool, Yamamoto’s commitment to the design process is unquestionable, and he is surprisingly candid at times about all sorts of topics, especially about himself. The son of a war widow, who grew up in Tokyo after the bombs, Yamamoto lays bare his predilection for conflict, darkness — beyond his fondness for the color black — and how, at the age of five or six, he realized that life would be very hard. There is also mention of how school-age hopes of being a painter were shelved for law school to please his mother. She was later “so mad” when, nearing graduation, he asked her about working in her dress shop. But she told him to first learn how to cut clothes so that the other craftspeople would accept him, which of course he did with abandon. . . .

.. . With plans to introduce Y-3 eyewear and hopefully fragrance down the road, Adidas has extended Yamamoto’s contract from 2013 to 2015. During an interview in New York earlier this month, Adidas senior vice president Rolf Reinschmidt reinforced how the company prizes its association with Yamamoto. Raising a hand high, he said, “Yohji is up here. We want to keep him there.” .

Details HERE.