adidas for Yohji Yamamoto
fall/winter 2008/9

Presentation of the footwear collection as part of the Yohji Yamamoto Homme FW 2008-09 show during Paris Fashion Week on 17th January 2008. The men's footwear comes to Yohji Yamamoto boutiques worldwide in July 2008.

Tartan and combat footwear

This season’s signature pieces show Celtic elements such as tartans with a special appearance in suits. The shoes complete Yohji Yamamoto’s Homme collection characterised through oversized proportions accentuated by asymmetry, random zipping and a downbeat palette of black, gray, and navy. The footwear ranges from a new zip boot model (based on the existing adidas GSG9 combat model), a low and a mid cut version in beige, black and black with navy accents (like on the images in the low version).

The development of the footwear line adidas for Yohji Yamamoto began in 2000. Two years before the first adidas Sport Style Y-3 collection (clothing, accessories) was designed by Yohji Yamamoto. In the 8th year of this collaboration adidas presents the exclusive men’s footwear collection for fall/winter 2008/9.


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History of Tartans

We know from Roman writers that the early Celts had an excellent weaving technology for woollen cloth, the divers' colors they used in manufacture, and in dying the wool with plants.

Since the 16th century the family clans in the Highlands of Scotland were dressed in typical clan tartans which differ in pattern and color. The tartans have been used as an instrument for identification and for building a community by the Highland clans of Scotland. Each clan had an own tartan, mostly with a motto such as the MacPherson or the MacDuff (both are red/blue tartans such as the one on the left picture). MacPherson motto: "Touch not the Cat Bot a Glove (Touch not the Cat Without a Glove)"; MacDuff motto: "Deus juvat (God assists)".

Today you can find the tradition of regional identification with tartans in some US states. The Washington State tartan for example was designed in 1988 and is with its background color green for the rich forests, blue for the lakes, rivers and ocean; white for the snow-capped mountains; red for the apple and cherry crops; yellow for the wheat and grain crops; and black for the eruption of Mount St. Helen a symbol for the state.