Sport couture
The bottom lines of sportswear giants like Adidas make even the biggest fashion firms look like minnows, so it is no wonder that cutting-edge designers clamor to put their names on sneakers made by the big boys. Although there are dozens of these sports brand-fashion brand tie-ups, by far the most successful is Y-3, an alliance between dark lord of deconstructed fashion Yohji Yamamoto (Y) and the ubiquitous German brand of the three stripes (3).
While most sport-fashion collaborations start and end with footwear, Y-3 is geared up to kit out its many devotees from head to toe. It even supplies them with logo-bearing soccer balls, luggage and other bits of kit for active types, all reinterpreting Yamamoto's minimalist aesthetic in sporty, wearable designs.