The high-end Adidas brand created with Yohji Yamamoto is Y-3.
The label combines Yamamoto’s avant-garde fashion approach with Adidas’s sportswear technology and three-stripe identity. The “Y” refers to Yohji Yamamoto, while the “3” represents Adidas’s famous three stripes. The collaboration developed in the early 2000s and the Y-3 line debuted in 2003.
Y-3 helped establish luxury or designer sportswear as a major fashion category. Its collections have included footwear, clothing, and accessories, often using oversized silhouettes, technical materials, monochrome styling, and sculptural sneaker designs. The label is distinct from Adidas Originals, which focuses on heritage products such as the Superstar and Stan Smith.
Yeezy is a different Adidas collaboration, created with Kanye West, while NMD is a sneaker franchise rather than a designer brand. Spezial is another Adidas line rooted in sportswear heritage, not Yamamoto’s fashion partnership.