Today Billie Eilish covers Highsnobiety issue 29. There are exactly 10 numbers, Yohji Yamamoto did it too. The only thing that separates Billie Eilish from Yohji Yamamoto are a few syllables. So many intangible parallels exist between the singer and the Japanese designer that it seems almost inexplicable that the pair don’t already have a deep artist/muse relationship, Eilish’s other luxury obligations notwithstanding.
That’s why Eilish’s cover for Highsnobiety Magazine, in which she mostly wears Yamamoto’s clothes, seems a long time coming. It’s both a manifestation of Eilish’s stylistic growth and a reflection of the powerful ties that have held her wardrobe ingrained, revealing the past and present on many levels (the magazine cover is also a conscious homage to Eilish’s EP).
For example, since even before she became the famous Billie Eilish that we all know, Eilish made loose clothing her uniform mainly because it was comfortable but also because she hated the idea of conforming to standards. conventional clothing. The oversized hoodies and baggy shorts conveyed a sense of ease, of someone who knows what he likes to wear. It was this personal peace that inspired Eilish to flip the stylistic script in 2021 with blonde hair and a much more feminine dress than the comparatively masculine baggy she’d embraced before.
“People saw me as this 15-year-old, kid, who wore this kind of stuff, had this kind of look, acted this kind of way, said this kind of way. I felt like I couldn’t change,” she told Highsnobiety Magazine in October. “That’s why I went so far to the other side. I was trying to prove, ‘Hey, fuck you guys, I can do whatever I want.’
Like Eilish, Yohji Yamamoto avoids the singularity.
Though his early decades as a moody, muted diaper designer earned him the moniker The Poet of Black, for example, Yamamoto has spent recent seasons reclaiming his stylistic narrative through explosive color, deconstruction bold and vivid prints on top of its typically generous style. clothes that free the body from constraining cuts.
There are multitudes here.
Again, like Eilish, casual admirers may know Yamamoto for his baggy clothes, but the Japanese designer doesn’t dabble in the shapeless. There’s an intention behind her exploration of different silhouettes, much like how Eilish refuses to restrict her taste to just one brand, style, or silhouette.
“It’s not that you wear one thing, and that’s your new style,” she explained. “Damn you keep wearing a bunch of shit.”
“Please pay attention to the clothes.”
Eilish’s stylistic fluidity is partly indicative of her age. Gen Z doesn’t dress to a rulebook and prescriptive combinations of clothing. Likewise, Eilish disrupts conventional notions of how famous people dress. She oscillates between masculine and feminine codes because it suits her. And that’s the whole reason the new generation of kids need to avoid the outdated gender binary.
Yamamoto, meanwhile, is a 79-year-old fashion designer operating in an industry that bears little resemblance to the one he scandalized with his debut at Paris Fashion Week in 1981. And yet his appeal remains constant, his clothes timeless.
For their fans, Eilish and Yamamoto have their own effervescent appeal. They read as authentic, unpretentious. How many similarities do they share? Count the paths.
Yamamoto’s clothes are centered on the wearer. Wim Wenders once described wearing Yamamoto’s clothes as feeling “like a knight in his armour”: these clothes will protect you from the outside world. Likewise, Eilish’s music often focuses on an exploration of the inner realm.
Yamamoto’s wrap dresses and boxy suits, insular as they were, shocked the fashion establishment and, like his former partner Rei Kawakubo, he was relegated to the periphery of the mainstream until stubborn determination breaks down barriers.
A cadre of obsessives kept Yamamoto in business while he split Paris. They understood there was only one Yamamoto, much like Billie Eilish fans know there is only one Billie Eilish.
Eilish’s fans are gasping for her every move, documenting Instagram Stories and recording snippets of her interviews. They feel a kinship with Eilish unmistakable to average celebrity-stan couples, which comes from the fact that Eilish is so damn relatable — she’s a sneakerhead! She has a BeReal! She posts about her dog! – but also his distinct approach to dressing. There’s no one else like Billie. Or Yamamoto, for that matter.
No standard should exist in their respective wardrobes. Women’s clothing does not have to be fitted, feminine, delicate. Men’s clothing doesn’t have to be firm, harsh, harsh. Rules are made to be changed and rearranged to fit.
It is the language of the iconoclasts. A language spoken by Billie Eilish and Yohji Yamamoto.
