A modest showing for a thriving multi-million business, it was presented to a small crowd of buyers and press including Barbara Weiser of the legendary NYC retailer Charivari. They would become the first international stockist for Yohji Yamamoto, playing a major role in its introduction to the western market.
This would all set the stage for a full scale runway debut in October, marking the ‘official’ arrival into the Paris fashion sphere for both Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo.
notes
photo ∙ bunka publishing bureau (first set), paul van riel (second set)
“The theme of my very first presentation was Portugal — clothes from when Western fashion was first introduced to Japan. And even with that, people still said it was extremely Japanese.”
— So-en Magazine January 1997
"It was March 1981, and Selma and Barbara were in Paris. They were coming to the end of a grueling three-week buying trip and were submitting their orders to the various houses. “We were working day and night. My mother was finishing up the orders, and I said I had to get out of there and take a walk. I ended up in Les Halles, and I saw this weird store. I was fascinated. I called up my mother and said, this is either the best or the worst thing I have ever seen.” Enter Selma. Twenty minutes later they were putting down $10,000 for the whole Yohji Yamamoto collection, and they got a two-year exclusive to introduce his designs in the U.S."
— The Rise and Fall of Charivari, the Cult Boutique of Fashion’s Cutting Edge, Vanity Fair September 2016
