The Japanese designer was in town in early March for the opening of his new store on Conduit Street — inching even closer to Savile Row, where the capital city’s best tailors reside.
Yamamoto’s previous store was located opposite his current one.
The store is grand with large windows and a platform that makes it stand out against the others on the street.
“They asked me to move here,” Yamamoto told WWD at the opening, alluding to the fact that a relocation was never in the cards, but the high ceilings caught his attention.
“The white shirt is very basic for men and women, but especially for men. I felt I should do something very special about white because the collection shows I’m always using black. I was searching for something and it was the white shirt,” said Yamamoto.
“You need the white shirt when you’re wearing a black outfit to make it more challenging,” he added.
The designer recently launched Y-3 Atelier, a line that will parlay the patterns of Yamamoto’s runway pieces into items that draw on “monozukuri” (or “making things” in Japanese) and a craft-focused creative approach.
Apparel in the Y-3 Atelier line will retail from 1,100 euros for a men’s cutoff jacket and 1,500 euros for a trenchcoat, up to 2,500 euros for a parachute dress and 3,600 euros for the most elaborate piece, a men’s track top.