Two Decades of Y-3 Rarities Surface in Upstate New York

While one might expect the debut retrospective for a designer-led brand like Y-3 to kick off in Tokyo, Paris, or Milan, it’s Hudson Valley retailer KASURI that’s presented the first exhibition surveying the ever-prolific collaboration between Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto and adidas. The Hudson concept store’s inaugural show, “Beautiful Things,” gives visitors a look back at the very origins of Yamamoto’s entanglement with adidas — a rare vignette into the colorful and experimental world of early Y-3.

From midtown Manhattan, Hudson, NY is accessible via a scenic two-hour train ride along the Hudson River, and KASURI’s newly relocated store is deep in town, occupying an entire floor of the recently opened Pocketbook Hotel. The building, a former textile factory built in 1885, lends the expanded store an industrial character and a refreshingly open feel, compared to the dense, limited retail space in New York City.

Hours ahead of the exhibition’s opening in May, KASURI granted Hypebeast the first look at the display, which will remain open until July 9. “We had been talking to Y-3 for quite a while about doing something together,” explained curator Sanam Sindhi. “We’re also the only store in the Hudson Valley that carries Y-3,” she added.

Founded in 2014, KASURI is indeed the sole Y-3 stockist in the area, and its relationship with the brand spans more than a decade. NYC has plenty of boutiques specializing in avant-garde Japanese and European labels. Upstate, KASURI is something close to an outlier.

Over the years, the store has built its own trove of archival designs, some of which were put on display for the Y-3 show, alongside runway pieces directly lent by Y-3 and selections from the personal collection of Etienne Bolduc of My Clothing Archive. “We have 20 years of fashion ephemera alongside runway pieces on loan from the official Y-3 archive,” Sindhi revealed. Holding a binder full of archival imagery and handwritten notes, Sindhi added, “It’s about half Y-3’s archive and half pieces I sourced”

Y-3 was officially launched in 2003 following the release of the 2001 YY White Tenet Flower, a cream-hued sneaker with a hidden lacing system, geometric midsoles, and a glowing floral upper inspired by the artwork of Chikami Hayashi. But Yamamoto had already incorporated adidas motifs into his designs as early as 1989, when he adopted the three stripes for a pair of wool track pants. Nonetheless, the YY White Tenet Flower was the first official collaboration between the two brands. Vacuum-sealed in plastic, the soft-spoken, yet futuristic sneaker is the oldest piece in the show.

On the sneakers, Sindhi shared, “They are all from very early collections — from the very first collections that Yohji and Adidas ever did together.” The White Tenet Flower sneaker, sourced by Sindhi, is carefully displayed in a glass box alongside other iconic models, like the AW01 Boxing Shoes from My Clothing Archive and the +F50 Tunit Beast “Tiger,” designed for the 2006 World Cup. With the matches now in full swing in North America, the historic “Beast Pack” has received a 2026 re-edition in celebration of the global football tournament.

Beyond the “Beast Pack,” the curation carries a strong throughline rooted in football culture, including a 2003 Yohji Yamamoto x adidas football, which Sindhi described as the “centerpiece” of the exhibition. Sourced from Tokyo, the black football, printed with a red heart between Yohji and adidas wordmarks, finds its origins at the 2003 opening of the Y’s Yohji Yamamoto flagship. Elsewhere, a Y-3 dress made to align with the 2010 World Cup was emblazoned with the German National Team’s crest — a piece from the wider SS10 collection, which featured a lineup of global flags and crests across t-shirts, jackets, and more.

From afar, the technicolor configuration of mannequins contrasts with more recent Y-3 seasons, which are also in stock on the shop floor. Over the last two decades, Y-3 has garnered a reputation for its sleek, tech-infused minimalism, but “Beautiful Things” emphasizes a different side of Yamamoto’s sensibilities.

Among the four main display platforms at the center of the space, the second highlights the SS04 “Heroes” collection, among the “most iconic collections for Y-3 nerds,” according to Sindhi. The collection is heavy with retro prints, including a diverse cast of “hero” portraits by Saeko Tsuemura. On the third platform, an SS06 denim number is hand-painted with Asian-inspired artwork and finished with bright orange stripes down the sleeves and pant legs.

The exhibition name originates from a short quote once said by Yohji Yamamoto himself: “Beautiful things are disappearing every day. Look at them, keep them, be careful. Don’t go too fast. Look back. Take it easy. I think this is my rule.” The quote echoes what Sindhi had expressed about many of the pieces on view, describing them as “impossible to find” or incredibly rare — to the point where she handled them delicately with white gloves. Furthermore, the Y-3 retrospective, with roots in KASURI’s growing designer archive, feels like a true manifestation of Yamamoto’s self-proclaimed rule: to keep and care for the beautiful things we encounter and cherish them.

If you can’t make your way to Hudson, NY, the physical “Beautiful Things” exhibition has been adapted into a free, digitized archive on the KASURI website, featuring interactive exhibition content and additional context.

“Beautiful Things” will be on view at KASURI’s Hudson store until July 9. The store is open from 11 am – 6 pm, Wednesday to Sunday, on the second floor of the Pocketbook Hotel, 549 Washington St, Hudson, NY 12534.