Team Japan x Yohji Yamamoto
Yohji Yamamoto is a Japanese high fashion designer and master tailor. He's been designing since the late 70s and is a regular face at Paris Fashion week. His designs specialize in oversized silhouettes, often from drapery of mixed textiles.
Yohji Yamamoto Inc. is a high fashion brand, with several sub brands that specialize in different styles. They have designed for Japanese national teams before, also providing the outfits for Japan's Olympics bid! They also sell a $2170 USD umbrella!
The majority of Yohji's collaborations with the football world are through the Y-3 Brand, which is a combination sub brand with Adidas, meant to bridge the gap between high fashion and soccer. The team's kit for the olympics was premiered at Paris fashion week, where Y-3 is a common name.
For the World Cup, Yohji inc provided the design for the away team kit. The differently colored stripes symbolize 'Colors Beyond the Horizon' (地平線の先の色彩). The stripe graphic features 12 colors - 11 colors represent a player, while the central red stripe symbolizes the Japanese football family.
Fans of Real Madrid will also recognize his work, as the fan favourite 2014-15 kit design featuring a dragon was designed by Yohji. It was enough of a fan favourite that the club and Adidas are bringing it back for a limited sale run in 2026.
One item of note for them, is the return of the Y-3 F50 Tunit, a shoe made in partnership with Adidas. In 2006, the two companies teamed up to make this line of shoes, inspired by Japanese mythology, the line features stylized designs of a blue dragon, a yellow tiger, a red eagle, and a silver wolf, the same designs from 2006.
Link to a comparison of 2006 vs 2026
The 2026 release is targeted towards consumers, in comparison to the 06 original. The street ready sole comes as an option, in addition to the treads of the traditional cleat!
