y-3 spring/summer 2026 | chapter 1

The decades-long conversation between adidas and Yohji Yamamoto remains one of the most reliable forces in fashion. For Spring/Summer 2026, Y-3 returns with Chapter 1, a collection demonstrating that the Master of Shadows still has much to offer in the language of black and white.

While recent seasons have seen the brand experiment with visceral nature prints and oxidation, SS26 marks a return to the quintessential monochrome palette that defines the Y-3 uniform. However, the absence of colour is not an absence of interest. Instead, the collection trades pigment for structural rebellion.

The standout innovation of this chapter is genuinely interactive: the new wired Three Stripes. Integrated into the garments with pliable wiring, the wearer can contort, twist and sculpt the silhouette themselves, effectively handing the final design authority back to the individual – a principle Yamamoto has championed in his mainline collections for decades.

The apparel balances volume and protection. Padded bomber jackets provide a structured armour, sitting alongside the brand’s signature flowing cargo trousers. In a nod to the wabi-sabi aesthetic of Yamamoto’s archives, raw-cut details are left exposed, offering an expressive imperfection that contrasts with the clean, clinical lines usually associated with sportswear.

It’s a sensibility that long-standing collaborator Oscar Foster Kane captures perfectly, having shot the lookbook with a distinctive focus on the dynamic interplay between the clothing’s rigid structure and its flowing movement.

In terms of footwear, the hybridisation on show for SS26 is particularly sharp. The headline act is the reimagining of the Y-3 GSG9. Taking the legendary tactical boot designed for the German special forces (Grenzschutzgruppe 9), the brand has softened and subverted it with delicate brogue detailing – a fantastic, jarring clash of military utility and gentleman’s formalwear that encapsulates the entire Y-3 ethos.

Elsewhere, the icons get an update. The Y-3 STAN LOW PRO offers a brutalist, angular take on the classic Stan Smith court shoe, while the running category is bolstered by the Y-3 ADIZERO RC6, pulling adidas’ top-tier marathon technology straight onto the street. All-time favourites like the NIZZASTAR HI, the TOKYO and the REGU LOW make a return, rounding out the collection.

Y-3 Spring/Summer 2026 Chapter 1 is available now online and at select retailers.

photography. courtesy of Oscar Foster Kane
words. Gennaro Costanzo