For the High-Speed Hypebeast: A Yohji Yamamoto Lamborghini
Do you feel the need...for avant-garde minimalist speed?
After much Instagram teasing, Lamborghini revealed Thursday an Aventador S “dressed” by the Japanese fashion titan Yohji Yamamoto. Inspired by the designer’s fall 2020 menswear collection, which debuted in January and has been rolling into stores over the past few weeks, the car expands on the season’s distressed black-and-red color palette, borrowing the punk red plaids, dots, and painterly stripes that served as motifs. The dizzying interior also takes its cues from Yamamoto, with upholstery in a text print that appeared on shirting and outerwear. If you have ever dreamed of a car that speaks to an anti-fashion attitude, your cerebral individuality, and your Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy obsession all at once—and also has a top speed of 217 mph—this is it!
In a press release, Yamamoto called Lamborghini cars “more instantly recognizable than any other car manufacturer - just one glance is enough.” He added that the collaboration highlights “the uniqueness, the timelessness, and the abundant passion” that both brands share. The car debuts today in the inaugural exhibition in Lamborghini’s new lounge in the Roppongi area of Tokyo, where clients can personalize cars and submerge themselves in the Lambo lifestyle; Lamborghini has another such lounge in New York. (Personally, I would have done a Yohji Lambo in all black with zero doors; I’ll stop by the New York lounge to inquire and report back soon.)
In addition to the automobile, Lamborghini and Yamamoto are also creating a clothing capsule, featuring a mod coat, bomber jacket, and hoodie, all of which take cues from Yamamoto’s collection. On the heels of a collaboration with Supreme back in September, this project is the latest in a banner year for one of the fashion industry’s remaining elder statesmen, who is in the midst of what GQ—by which I mean me—deemed the Yohjissaince this past summer. Between his team-ups with Supreme and Lamborghini, Yamamoto is ushering in a freaky-luxe new era of the hypebeast.
This is hardly the year’s first tie-up between a fashion brand and a luxury car maker—indeed, such partnerships have become something of a trend. First, there was Aime Leon Dore’s Porsche, beckoning visitors to Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in Soho back in February. In April, fellow Yamamoto collaborators Supreme created their own capsule with Lamborghini. In September, Virgil Abloh revealed a custom G-Wagen, and earlier this month, Kith commander Ronnie Fieg released a huge collection of clothing with BMW, along with 150 actual BMWs. (The Wall Street Journal reported that all 150 of the cars had sold out within an hour of their release.)
The lust for cars among streetwear and menswear fanatics is hardly new. But in our collaboration-crazy moment, the desire for a power linkup is higher than ever. (It is also likely the case that car brands, unlike more fashion-adjacent companies that have collabed to the hilt, have the money and fresh energy to spend on such projects.) Merch, either on the secondary market or purchased new, is already a hot commodity for many luxury-streetwear shoppers; why not create a little merch for the Uber riders and unlicensed drivers who are eager for modest grails now to prime them for midlife crisis grails later?
Still, Yamamoto and Lamborghini are perhaps unlikely bedfellows: the designer loves quiet, has a twisted sense of humor, and a reputation as an anti-trend punk, while Lamborghinis are, uh, very fast, popular, and as un-punk as it gets. (One wonders whether the car’s ashtray offerings are up to Yohji’s chainsmoking needs.) But then again, his fall 2020 collection’s unofficial mantra, sewn into garments and even spelled out on the back of a coat, was “Naughty Yohji.” Vroom vroom!
Originally Appeared on GQ
