Yamamoto was born in Yokohama, Japan on October 3, 1943. He studied law at Keio University and graduated in 1966 with a law degree. He continued his studies on fashion design at the famous Bunkafukuso Gakuin, a fashion institute in Tokyo. In 1972, he marketed his own designs under the label Y's. In 1977, he presented his Y's collection for the first time in Tokyo. He designed his first high-end women's ready-to-wear collection in 1981 and presented it in Paris. Yamamoto blends the exotic and powerful designs of traditional Japanese dress with Western daywear, and achieves a unique, abstract style. He is an uncompromising, nontraditional designer. Yamamoto drapes and wraps the body in unstructured, loose, voluminous garments, similar in style and philosophy to those of Rei Kawakubo. Many of his clothes have additional flaps, pockets and straps. In 1994, Yamamoto signed with Patou to produce several fragrances. The first,Yohji, was released in France in 1996 and in the United States the following year. It was followed by a second scent for women, Yohji Essential in 1998. Yamamoto's first fragrance for men, Yohji Homme, debuted in 1999, as his first freestanding boutique in the United States.
Yamamoto was honored as International Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in New York City in June 2000. In early 2003, Yamamoto presented his spring collection. That same year, he became the designer for a new line of clothing produced in conjunction with the Adidas sportswear company called Y's 3. This agreement came about after Yamamoto first designed an astoundingly successful set of trainers, athletic shoes, and sports shoes for Adidas in 2001. His constant use of black-on-black aesthetic earned his followers the nickname karasuzoku, or members of the crow tribe. In 2005, Yohji Yamamoto was honored with a retrospective at Paris's Musee de la Mode et du Textile in a show entitled Juste des Vetements (just clothes). He operates one-hundred and sixty stores in Japan, six stores outside of Japan and sells to two-hundred stores worldwide.