Issey Miyake - Fashion and Innovation
A Bit of History
Issey Miyake was born in April 1938 in Hiroshima, Japan, and passed away in August 2022 at the age of 84 after battling liver cancer. He was only seven years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city during World War II in 1945. Miyake survived the bombing, which killed 140,000 people, but he was left with a noticeable limp in his legs. Three years after the bombing, his mother passed away due to radiation exposure.
Though he rarely spoke about this traumatic experience, in 2009, he wrote an article for The New York Times in which he shared that he did not want to be known as "the designer who survived the atomic bombing."
As Miyake grew older, he studied graphic design at Tama Art University in Tokyo, graduating in 1964 at the age of 26. After completing his studies, he moved to Paris and enrolled in the prestigious Ecole de Haute Couture (Syndicat Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne). He worked with renowned fashion designers such as Guy Laroche and Givenchy.
Miyake then spent some time in New York, where he worked with Geoffrey Beene. In 1970, he returned to Tokyo and founded his design studio, Miyake Design Studio. Shortly after, he opened a boutique in Paris as well.
In that decade, Miyake's designs were introduced to the international fashion scene. His groundbreaking work was first showcased in Paris, making him the first Japanese designer to present his creations internationally. He became a pioneer among a group of Japanese fashion designers who gained recognition in the West, including Kenzo Takada, Yohji Yamamoto, and Rei Kawakubo, the founder of Comme des Garçons.
Miyake developed close relationships with several artists and visionaries, such as designer Ron Arad and Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. He designed the iconic black turtlenecks that Jobs became famous for wearing, making them strongly associated with his image.
Another admirer of Miyake was the renowned architect Zaha Hadid, who loved wearing his designs.
As a child, Miyake dreamed of becoming an athlete, which helps explain the movement and fluidity found in his garments and his fashion shows. His runway presentations were often akin to dance performances, where the clothing itself played a secondary role, showcasing how his designs moved with the body.
Issey Miyake’s Work
In the late 1980s, Issey Miyake began experimenting with new techniques for creating pleats, aiming to provide flexibility for the wearer while also making the garment easier to care for.
His experiments led to the development of a new pleating technique in 1993. First, he would cut and sew the garment, and then press it between two layers of paper, using steam to compress and create the pleats. This technique allowed him to design pleated garments for the Frankfurt Ballet, demonstrating his ability to merge innovation with practicality and artistic expression.
It’s impossible to discuss Issey Miyake without mentioning pleating. Here’s a bit about pleating: The word Plissé comes from French and means "pleats." The term refers to fabric that is woven or gathered into permanent, uniform folds. The fabric "remembers" and retains the pleats even after being removed from the paper mold, pleating machine, or knitting machine, depending on the type of fabric used for the pleating process.
Miyake revolutionized pleating by combining traditional techniques with innovative methods to create lightweight, functional, and sculptural designs.
To create pleats, a template is made with the desired folds using two identical layers of cardboard. The two cardboard templates are then opened (meaning the design is not folded, but the cardboard is laid flat on a table). The fabric is placed between the two layers of cardboard, and all three layers are secured together before being folded as a whole.
Afterward, the closed template with the fabric sandwiched between the two layers of cardboard is placed in an oven for a varying amount of time, depending on the type of fabric and the complexity of the design.
Pleating designs can range in complexity, with the most basic and historically popular pattern being the accordion fold, which resembles a fan fold.
The pleating technique is one of the oldest textile techniques, developed in ancient Egypt around 3000 BCE. The Egyptians created pleats in fabric using various molds, and they set the pattern using a heavy metal object.
Throughout history, clothing and textiles have not only served to cover and protect the body, but also as a means of visual communication, representing the social status of the wearer. To distinguish between different fabrics and assign them distinct meanings, various techniques were developed to create volume, texture, and unique details in the fabric. This is where pleating as a technique evolved from.
For example, the collection launched in 1993 became iconic, part of the Pleats Please line, featuring lightweight pleated garments that transcended age, gender, and even seasons. These garments were made from polyester, allowing for machine washing, rolling up in a suitcase, and unpacking them looking fresh and crisp, just as they appeared before being packed. This collection exemplified Issey Miyake's genius for blending practicality with artistry, creating clothes that were not only innovative in their design but also functional for the modern, active lifestyle.
In 1994, Issey Miyake handed over the responsibility of designing menswear to Naoki Takizawa, and five years later, Takizawa also took over women's fashion. Miyake transferred these areas so that he could dedicate more time to research and creative exploration. In 2007, Naoki Takizawa became an independent designer within the Issey Miyake group, and Dai Fujiwara was appointed as the creative director of the Issey Miyake brand.
Miyake continued to oversee all collections from the sidelines, while focusing on developing additional products and ideas, including his cosmetics and fragrance line. The first fragrance he launched, L'eau d'Issey (translated as "The Water of Issey"), was introduced in 1992. The name is a wordplay, as it sounds like "Odyssey" in French. The bottle, designed by Miyake, was inspired by the moon as seen behind the Eiffel Tower, from Miyake's apartment in Paris. L'eau d'Issey became a massive success and continues to sell in large quantities to this day.
Issey Miyake will forever be remembered as one of the most innovative and prolific fashion designers. His true charm lies not only in his boundless talent but also in his humility regarding his work and his nature as a kind and modest person. "I do things," he would simply say—avoiding grandiose words about being a great and talented fashion designer. His designs were intended to meet the modern needs of his clients.
In a 2016 interview with The Guardian, one of his last interviews, he said: "In Paris, we call the people who make clothes 'couturiers,' designers who create new garments, but actually, the job of design is to create something that works in real life. Design should offer a solution." This philosophy encapsulated his approach to fashion—practical, functional, and always focused on improving people's everyday lives. Design should offer a solution."
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