For a man widely acknowledged, some might say celebrated, for being taciturn, Yohji Yamamoto is quite the raconteur. As revealed in his conversation with Rick Owens (p.44), the Japanese designer has some colourful and surprising stories up his (jet-black and generously proportioned) sleeve.

While tales of hunting elks, firing Magnum .45s, and thoughts of pursuing a life of crime might seem at odds with Yohji’s seemingly shy and retiring nature, they also reaffirm the place he occupies in fashion: a renegade presence as poetic, unwavering and unique as the collections he’s been conjuring up for the past 40 years.

Even though he dismisses such hyperbole with a shrug (‘I’m just a guy who can make a dress’), let’s not forget: this is a designer who fashions dreams out of fabric and a pair of scissors. With his own hands. Not a moodboard or stylist consultant in sight. A man who, when he turned his hand to producing imagery, created seminal catalogues and campaigns in the 1990s that remain the reference for much of the ‘content’ we see today’s creative directors feeding into the world. A visionary whose Y-3 line, launched in collaboration with Adidas back in 2003 and still going strong, set the template for fashion’s seemingly never-ending obsession with fashionable (and profitable) sportswear.

Not that any of this matters to Yohji Yamamoto himself. Fifty years after he graduated from fashion school, he still cherishes one thing above all else: his absolute freedom. And freedom – fundamental to creativity – is a word we so rarely associate with fashion designers any more.

Which is what makes Yohji-san the Master.