Yohji Yamamoto and Starbucks? More likely than you think.
Fashion purists might think Yohji Yamamoto's unsmilingly elegant clothes make for odd bedfellows with the world's largest coffee chain but not so.
See, Yohji Yamamoto is more than black clothes. The 80-year-old Japanese legend lends his name to so many creative endeavors that it's nearly impossible to keep up and his Starbucks collab comes courtesy of young imprint Yohji Yamamoto Wildside.
Wildside is Yamamoto's octopi-like creative branch, spanning a semi-affordable in-house collection, art shows, and a curated selection of brands. It's also at least partially steered by omnipresent fashion kingmaker Motofumi "Poggy" Kogi, which makes sense what with all of its constant collaborations.
So, a Starbucks partnership isn't really that far outside of Yamamoto's wheelhouse after all. But, you might still think that it's more than a little left-of-center and, honestly, you might be right.
Yamamoto's Wildside label has remixed Starbucks Oleato brew — an olive oil-infused coffee (seriously!) — into an espresso martini, because Yohji Yamamoto is classy and dark and mysterious and so he must enjoy his coffee the same way.
Except that instead of being served in a smoky club while sultry jazz is banged out on a dusty stage, Yamamoto's bespoke Starbucks blend will only be available in Tokyo's cavernous Starbucks Reserve roastery. Not quite as intimate, to be sure.
But perhaps the flavor will do all the talking necessary. It is certainly dark enough to feel up Yamamoto's alley and the fancy glass it's served in affects the gothic attitude inherent to his work. Goth coffee? Gothee? Goffee?
A Japanese press release explains that Yamamoto's Starbucks sip is blended with a single-malt vodka, herbal liqueur, a dash of "smoky" scotch, and black pepper to taste.
Remember, this is the olive oil coffee.
But it's also no big shock that Yamamoto would be interested in a Starbucks collaboration, anyways.
His eponymous company recently reopened in New York and only just relaunched his first-ever menswear brand so there's many goings-ons in Yamamoto's world. Boozy olive oil coffee is merely one micro-happening.
