Yohji Yamamoto Taps Alaïa Executive
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Yohji Yamamoto has recruited longtime Alaïa executive Caroline Fabre to ramp up his profile and business worldwide, WWD has learned.
As Yamamoto’s new executive adviser, she reports to the board of Yohji Yamamoto Inc. and is charged with “further expanding the image and trade development of the Yohji Yamamoto Group globally, across its different lines,” according to a statement shared exclusively with WWD.
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She started earlier this month and will be based between Tokyo and Paris.
A French national, Fabre worked for Yamamoto earlier in her career, joining the Japanese fashion house in 1986 in charge of sourcing, distribution and special projects for various of the designer’s lines.
She went on to become director of European sales, strategy and development for the Yohji Yamamoto, Yohji Yamamoto pour Homme and Y’s lines for women and men. She was also in charge of developing the Y-3 line, the fruit of a collaboration with Adidas forged 20 years ago.
The company is planning events and special projects around the Y-3 anniversary, and recently unveiled a collaboration with British photographer Max Vadukul involving archive images from the Y’s brand, marking its 50th year in 2022.
Fabre rejoins Yamamoto when the company has a flurry of other projects, including store openings in New York’s SoHo district, Osaka and Tokyo’s Aoyama district, plus a collaboration with the famous Japanese baseball team Yomiuri Giants.
Fabre is familiar to devotees of Azzedine Alaïa, having served as the acclaimed designer’s “right-hand person” and trusted adviser in Paris for almost two decades.
As director of sales and studio director, Fabre overhauled distribution of Alaïa’s collections and boosted turnover. After Alaïa’s death in 2017, she took on the newly created position of director of heritage, editions and couture. Among her key projects was developing the Editions line, based on a selection of archival styles.
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