WILDSIDE Yohji Yamoto x The Weeknd Unearth an Unreleased Saeko Tsuemura Drawing for New Collab
Five pieces mark the “After Hours Til Dawn” tour, each capped at one per customer.
by Sophie Caraan · HypebeastSummary
WILDSIDE YOHJI YAMAMOTO and The Weeknd have built a five-piece capsule around a previously unreleased illustration by Saeko Tsuemura
The range runs from cotton jersey up to a Japanese-made cow leather jacket and a triacetate crepe de chine tailored jacket
A special brooch and printed graphic combining the WILDSIDE and XO logos ties the pieces together
WILDSIDE Yohji Yamamoto has released a five-piece collaboration with The Weeknd marking his “After Hours Til Dawn Tour,” built around a previously unreleased illustration by artist Saeko Tsuemura. Rather than keeping the artwork on jersey, the capsule carries it across five very different constructions, from a printed tee up to tailoring and outerwear made in Japan.
The leather jacket sits at the top of the range and is the most substantial piece here. It is cut from 100% cow leather in a free size, with polyester padding and a cotton lining, and it puts Tsuemura’s illustration across the back as a print. A brooch combining the WILDSIDE and XO logos fastens at the collar, which is a notably different approach to branding than a stitched or printed label.
The two-button tailored collar jacket handles the same graphic in a lighter register. Its body is a triacetate and polyester crepe de chine, blended at 57% and 43%, a fabric chosen for its low weight, resistance to creasing and restrained sheen, with a cupro lining underneath. The lapel takes the same logo brooch, and the piece is offered in two sizes rather than the free sizing used elsewhere in the capsule.
The rayon shirt inverts the layout. Here the Tsuemura print moves to the front while the back carries the combined WILDSIDE and XO logo, and the printing method leaves a hard contrast between the ground colour and the figure, which is where the piece earns most of its visual weight. It is made in Japan in a single free size.
The two jersey pieces handle the graphic most directly. The pullover hoodie, made in the USA from 100% cotton, places the illustration large across the back with the logo graphic sitting small at the left chest, and the short sleeve tee repeats that configuration in Vietnamese-made cotton. Both back graphics fold the tour title into Tsuemura’s artwork rather than printing it separately.
The choice of artwork is what gives the capsule its depth. Tsuemura’s illustrations appeared through a collaborative relationship that ran from 1991 to 2002, and this is the first time this particular drawing has been released, which makes the capsule an archive excavation as much as a tour merch exercise.
The WILDSIDE Yohji Yamamoto x The Weeknd capsule drops Friday, September 11 at 6:00 p.m. JST via WILDSIDE Yohji Yamamoto’s online store, the “After Hours Til Dawn” Tokyo Pop Up Store, WILDSIDE Yohji Yamamoto Harajuku, and WILDSIDE Yohji Yamamoto Osaka, with a one-per-person limit across all five pieces.