Looking Back at 20 Years of Y-3

In the last two decades, adidas has teamed up with high-profile industry names and brands including Kanye West, Pharrell, South Park, Prada and more, but few of these have the history and heritage that its collaborative Y-3 sub-label possesses. Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto has been helming this imprint since 2002, and he’s been pushing the boundaries in contemporary fashion and footwear ever since. Y-3 was one of the first to blend the worlds of high-fashion with sportswear — something we know all too well today — and it continues to dominate in this space.

Some of the most innovative product designs have spawned from this partnership. A footwear silhouette as iconic as the Y-3 Qasa will forever be remembered for its unique design and how it influenced a whole generation of contemporary and lifestyle sneaker models. And athletic apparel such as hoodies, tracksuits, jumpsuits and tech wear now have room in streetwear as Yamamoto reinterpreted this category through minimal branding, tasteful patterns and neutral tones.

The hype over the label has more or less simmered down in recent years, but the brand is still making strides to remain relevant with a slew of lifestyle footwear offerings and athleisure capsules. It’s safe to say that Yamamoto’s brand still has plenty left in the tank, and as it gears up for its 20th anniversary HYPEBEAST has taken a look back into some of its most pivotal moments.

Debut, 2003

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Having already run his own label for 30 years, Yohji Yamamoto was thirsty for a new venture, one that he would be able to amalgamate all of his knowledge from working in the luxury space with street and sportswear. After getting rejected by Nike, he ran with this collaborative idea and pitched it to adidas in 2002. The German sportswear brand was much more open to the idea of doing something that had never been done before in the fashion space, and the partnership was forged.

Y-3 Platform Sandal, 2004

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Clogs, mules, sandals and everything in between are the new norm in today’s footwear space. However, Y-3 was one of the first labels to engineer an unorthodox model slip-on model that was both contemporary and sporty, and that was the adidas Y-3 Platform Sandal. Up top, the kicks feature a high-cut mesh bootie that bears a Tabi toe-esque design, exposed heels and Three Stripes branding on the rear end. A thick platform serves as the foundation of the model, and which curves up towards the front and bears a Yohji Yamamoto spell out on the lateral rear. It was a unique proposition to the footwear market as you would very seldom see an offering that was this fashion-forward but still possessed a sportswear feel to it.

Dave M. Benett/Getty Images (london Store Pictured)

First Flagship Store Opening, 2008

Once the partnership had reached its five-year mark, Yamamoto recognized that the collaboration had gained a substantial enough fan base that it was time to go the brick-and-mortar route. In 2008, Y-3 opened its doors to the label’s inaugural standalone retail space in New York City’s West Village neighborhood.

Y-3 Qasa, 2013

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Of all of the adidas Y-3 silhouettes under the sun, the Qasa is undoubtedly the most iconic. At the time, Yamamoto felt a need to shake the sneaker landscape up with a silhouette that pushed contemporary footwear design forward, and he certainly achieved that with this offering. The model debuted in 2013 and instantly garnered mass appeal for its futuristic shape and premium comfort. Yamamoto harked back into Three Stripes’ early 90s archives to bring back the brand’s Tubular technology, and he merged this with own Japanese design sensibilities to create the offering. The response to this shoe was so well-received it even spawned the avant-garde designer to create more variations of the model in the years that followed.

Y-3 PureBOOST, 2014

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Prior to Kanye West creating a cult following for adidas running sneakers such as the UltraBOOST as well as his ever-expanding line of adidas YEEZYs, Yohji Yamamoto helped to introduce the cushioning system to the fashion crowd with the Y-3 PureBOOST. The silhouette debuted in a handful of grayscale renditions and instantly became a hit after Fear of God founder and now one of adidas’ newest collaborators Jerry Lorenzo was often seen wearing the black and white and all-white colorways.

Y-3 Run Boost, 2016

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During this time period, nearly every adidas BOOST model would capture the attention of the sneaker community, and Yohji Yamamoto couldn’t help but chime in on the action so he fashioned the adidas Y-3 Run Boost. This silhouette is essentially a elevated version of the adidas Pure Boost that debuted in 2014 that bears the Japanese designer’s full moniker across the middle stripe and oversized Y-3 branding on the heels. If Kanye West stepped out in public and he wasn’t rocking his YEEZYs, you’d often catch him lacing up various colorways of this model, and this of course jacked up the resell prices and created more demand for them.

Y-3 Creates Flight Suits for Virgin Galactic, 2016

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After already proving himself time and time again on the runways, Yamamoto was presented with a unique opportunity to work with Virgil Galactic — an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson. The company admired the designer’s unique perspective in fashion and tapped him to create special flight suits for the world’s first commercial space flights. The suits were devised with Nomex Meta Aramid — a woven, heat-resistant synthetic material — and were designed to support a pilot’s natural seating position. Y-3-made limited-edition jackets were also made for the pilots, crew and passengers.

Y-3 4D Runner, 2018

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As adidas continued to expand upon his footwear cushioning technology with the introduction of of FUTURECRAFT 4D, it was only fitting that a silhouette be engineered under the Y-3 label. To kick things off on this front, Yamamoto implemented the brand’s unique and latticed sole unit and designed the Y-3 4D Runner. The silhouette first walked the runway during Paris Fashion Week that year and only a mere 200 pairs were released.

Y-3 “20 Years: Re-Coded” Campaign, 2022

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Y-3 launches its newest “20 Years: Re-Coded”campaign that features football icon and longtime friend of the brand Zinedine Zidane. It’s designed to celebrate the brand’s two decades-long history while shining a light on Zidane and his impeccable ball control. Campaign imagery shows Zidane adorned head-to-toe in Y-3 and is seen sporting the brand’s sweatsuits, a trench coat, a puffy vest and the recently-dropped Y-3 UltraBOOST 22.

No matter where the brand goes from here, it will always be remembered for being a pioneer in fusing the worlds of luxury with street. As long as it continues to hone in on its craft and continue to push out wearable, functional and elevated products, it has great potential to stay relevant, but the brand still has room to grow. Having another pivotal moment like introducing another footwear model that transcends sneaker culture like its Qasa did can definitely bring fresh energy and attract new fans to the brand, but we’ll see how it moves in the coming years.