Y-3 showcases Autumn/Winter 18 'NICE TO MEET YOU' collection at Paris Grand Palais

With voluminous, oversized shapes, sportswear technicality and comfort as key, Y-3, the sportswear label created by adidas and designer Yohji Yamamoto, introduces the Autumn/Winter 2018  "NICE TO MEET YOU" collection in Paris this catwalk season, a nod to the ongoing collaborative nature of  the brand since its inception.

The goal is to distill the best of Yamamoto and adidas in daringly simple apparel, footwear, and accessories.  There is an emphasis on both craftsmanship and innovation — long-held qualities of both the German sportswear icon and the renowned Japanese designer. 

Presented at Grand Palais in January, the Fall/Winter 2018 runway collection represents not only a return to the roots of Y-3.  Presented mainly in black, white, deep ink, with an injection of sunny yellow and a floral camouflage print, it showcases a refinement and celebration of the brand's key characteristics: simplicity, proportion, heritage, and the three stripes distinctive of adidas. 

The collection rides a tension between tradition and progression, pairing Japanese craftsmanship, such as Sashiko embroidery, with the cutting edge innovation of CARBON 4D and BOOST™.

The Sashiko  stitching conjures a crucial human element —suggesting the hand of a couturier - and has been incorporated within the stacked logo motif that appears throughout the range.

When it comes to apparel, XXL is the new medium. Outerwear proportions are blown up to extremes and worn with body-conscious separates to create an intriguing contrast of covered and uncovered. This pairs with an innovative inside-out fabric concept: innerwear materials used as outerwear and vice versa.  Many of the styles are also reversible.

Graphic codes subtly nod to Y-3’s story. The print of the season — a camouflage floral —
represents both the grit of the street and the poetry of Yamamoto‘s avant-garde approach.

Note that bold slogans, such as ‘Y DON’T YOU CALL ADIDAS’  and ‘NICE TO MEET YOU’, tell the tale of collaboration and mutual respect from which Y-3 was born. 

Y-3 relentlessly innovates with its footwear offering, giving a taste of the future with SPEEDFACTORY and CARBON 4D, as well as debuting several new styles. Directly inspired by the adidas archive, the pioneering  Kaiwa melds a minimalist design philosophy with contrasting midsole accents for a bold, 3-D effect — shown on the runway both as a low-top trainer and knee-high sneaker-boot. The sleek, sock-like, sport-driven Ekika combines smooth neoprene mesh uppers with suede accents and stitched details, recalling the collection’s handcraft motif.