The Dark Union of Yohji Yamamoto and Hublot Spawn a New Timepiece

To understand why Hublot found its perfect collaborator in Yohji Yamamoto, we must visit the fashion designer’s unusual backstory. Born in 1943, Yamamoto studied law and almost became a prosecutor, but ended up traveling through Europe, then returning to help his mother in her dressmaking shop.

Thanks to this odd twist in his life’s story, the fashion world gained a bold revolutionary, whose 1981 Paris debut comprised dark and oversized designs that blurred gender lines. Moreover, his raw, counterculture couture introduced black, imperfect silhouettes into the world of high fashion, regardless of whether the scene was ready to accept this.

Unbeknownst to many, the frayed lines and unabashed asymmetry of his creations stemmed from an unquenchable anger. The child of a soldier who had died in World War II, Yamamoto grew up racing cars illegally around Tokyo and getting into street fights.

The irreverent designer holds a black belt in karate, is known for painstakingly crafting his garments personally by hand, and once staged a fashion show featuring signs for lost pets, including a sign looking for a “lost Yohji”.

In his older years, he would divulge to fashion journalist that it was his rage that drove him to stitch together such brazen antitheses of fashion.

Married at Midnight

In the same spirit, Hublot is known for introducing rubber to gold watches, and subsequently enjoying widespread acclaim in a time when this pairing was unconceivable.

In 2006, around the height of Yamomoto’s mainstream popularity, Hublot coincidentally launched its All Black collection—surfaces of these timepieces were finished in different textures, making them invisible to the inquisitive onlooker, yet legible to the wearer.

The parallel philosophies of these two maisons inevitably paved the way to their partnership in 2020, which first spawned the 45mm Hublot Big Bang GMT All Black Yohji Yamamoto in April 2020. Commemorating the opening of Hublot’s Ginza boutique, this 50-piece limited edition sported micro-blasted and polished black ceramic, and was made exclusively available in this new store in Tokyo.

The reception of this pitch-dark timepiece motivated the creation of the 200-piece limited edition Big Bang Camo Yohji Yamamoto in September that year, a 45mm matt black ceramic timepiece that brandished a multi-layered dial with superimposed biomorphic patterns.

Secured to the wrist by straps that were individually cut, assembled and vulcanized (a first in the horological world), this military-themed chronograph was also reimagined in a blacked-out camo design.

Classic Fusion All Black Camo

The alternating finishing of Hublot’s black camouflage dial reveals the time in rapturous fashion when held to the light, and this unforgettable aesthetic returns on the new Classic Fusion All Black Camo, a 42mm looker that reveals its MHUB1110 and “squeletonized” rotor through its smoked sapphire caseback. Like its preceding editions, this time-and-date watch is furnished with Yamamoto’s autograph at its 6 o’clock position.

“For Yohji Yamamoto, black reveals what truly matters, it purifies form, letting silhouette and texture speak. At Hublot, we treat black as a living material, sculpted, layered, folded where each surface interacts differently with light. This project marks our very first collaboration on a Classic Fusion model, and together, we share the belief that luxury is not what shines, but what endures,” explained Hublot CEO Julien Tornare.

Yamamoto, who famously remarked that black is a color that says “I don’t bother you, don’t bother me,” commented on his new timepiece, saying: “Black is modest and confident at the same time. With Hublot, we share a vision to transform time and fabric into expression. Our limited edition, through the use of camouflage, celebrates versatility; it adapts, evolves, and defines its own narrative.”