Caroline Ball first encountered Y-3, the permanent collaboration between Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto and German sportswear giant Adidas, after a big night out in Berlin.

“I was in a very moodily lit boutique on a freezing cold morning in Berlin before consuming the best morning-after sandwich I’ve ever eaten,” she laughs.

“It was mind-blowing to me. Y-3 is the brand that invented the category of streetwear – it’s weird for our generation to imagine a time when it didn’t exist."

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Now Ball, known for her fashion concept store Sorry Thanks I Love You, has brought Y-3 to Australia with the opening of a flagship store in Westfield Sydney in the CBD.

“Y-3 is very original in that it blends Adidas’s sports heritage, high-performance fabrics and manufacturing capabilities with Yohji’s elegant iconic silhouettes and tailoring,” Ball says.

The new Sydney store, launched on March 1, carries all five categories within the collection: tailoring (jackets and suiting), performance (sportswear), outerwear (jackets and weatherproof pieces), core pieces (cotton basics designed for layering) and footwear and accessories.

“Each piece is an experiment in seeing a fashion garment through a sporting lens, or vice versa. I think the size of the collection and the longevity of this partnership is testament to the brand’s experience bringing Yohji’s craftsmanship together with Adidas’s high-tech prowess,” Ball says.

Store design is in line with a new “art gallery meets sporting arena” concept the brand launched late in 2022 for its outlets around the world.

Portuguese cork columns, discs of mottled blue recycled plastics, recycled rainbow-flecked rubber and custom-fabricated brushed stainless-steel racking are among the elements of the fit-out, which also features an old-school projector.

“My personal favourites are the stools made from layers of granite, pink and blue recycled plastics and spongy black rubber, like giant liquorice allsorts, and curvy joinery inspired by playgrounds and gym equipment,” Ball says.

Inside the shop you’ll find the new Y-3 collection Chapter One, which features plenty of archival pieces in celebration of the label’s 20th anniversary, with Chapter Two arriving in early April.

“Anyone who has come across Y-3 will know that its production is of the highest level, and the brand itself is all about understated style. There are secret pockets-in-pockets, lots of very subtle black-on-black motifs, and even tiny QR codes on inner care instruction labels.”

It’s that relaxed and functional aesthetic that Ball is banking on when it comes to the local market. “The lightweight, high-performance fabrics are perfect for our climate and the fact that these pieces are so comfortable and easy to care for makes them really great everyday pieces. A modern uniform for the streets.”

Ball says she’s long had her eye on Y-3, and when the opportunity came to partner with the brand she founded the company Y-3 Australia and New Zealand, amassed a local team, and jumped on it.

“Our partnership with Y-3 encompasses both countries, and we’re very excited to be opening in other locations across both countries, with Melbourne being the next city,” Ball says.

Y-3
Shop 1004, Level 1, Westfield Sydney
188 Pitt Street, Sydney

Hours:
Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat 9.30am–7pm
Thu 9.30am–9pm
Sun 10am–7pm

y-3.com
@adidasy3