Biography of Issey Miyake

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On April 22,1938, Issey Miyake, a supernova in the fashion design history, was born in Hiroshima, Japan. At such a young age of 35, he had his first fashion collection “A Poem of Cloth and Stone” held in Tokyo. After designing for several prominent brands, such as Givenchy, Miyake eventually founded the Issey Miyake International Inc. in 1971. As an internationally notable Japanese designer whose designs are without structural pattern, Issey Miyake got rid of the traditional western styles. The spirit of innovative product creation with the goal of enhancing people’s daily lives is carried throughout each design piece in ISSEY MIYAKE. 

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Getting the idea while working for Givenchy to Geoffrey Beene, [Miyake] made the traditionally intertwined terms, signifiers and signifieds, independent from each other, and thus bringing out the new interpretations of clothes. (Barlett) Miyake’s deconstruction was then established. For example, in his 1982 “Bodyworks” collection, he brings in the combination of fashion and architecture. As shown in the picture on the left, black is used as the dominant color of the whole piece; nonetheless, it is more than just black, but Miyake’s study of the body form and emotion, using materials other than normal fabrics. For example, wires made up the corset, and feathers made up the shoulder pads. Feathers that stick out of the corset symbolize Miyake’s intention to make things different. “[Miyake’s] cast breastplates of laminated polyester, as well as his sculpted shapes of wire and cage-like rattan forms, function like housing for the body” (Baxbaum). Through this collection, his new concept of importance of clothing functioning is revealed to the world.

Starting in his early career, Miyake devoted himself to experience “with traditional Japanese fabrics while developing the A Piece of Cloth (A-POC) concept in the Seventies, and [to design] clothes that attempted to assimilate the traditions and cultures from around the world at the beginning of the Eighties” (Barlett). In Miyake’s opinion, he does not want his works to be serious and negative, instead, “he wants his exhibition to be a joyful, sensual, colorful and playful experience for the viewer rather than a pretentious display of art in a dress disguise” (Bartlett). It is clear that Miyake is a designer who rejects to follow the mainstream and traditional design and that he prefers to find another way of making clothes.

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Although Miyake does not invent the pleating technique, “his way of thinking and his technique gives new meaning to the prevailing fashion terminology, whether minimalism, high tech, sensuality, luxury, art or tradition” (Bartlett). Thus, Miyake’s style of pleating is comparatively more unique and famous. The PLEATS PLEASE collection “was a response to the evolution of the condition of women, through a study of the traditional Japanese pleating technique, tatamu.” (Bartlett). Since the 1989 launching of PLEATS PLEASE collection, Issey Miyake’s name is well tightened with the pleats. Picture shown above is a design from the PLEATS PLEASE collection. Every part of this black dress is pleated; however, there is some clash in this dress, as the pleats are on different directions. Although the only color used in this piece is black, the dress is various because the direction of the pleating brings different light reflections to the garment.
              Origami-lantern-like dresses, huge sharp-end folds, and highly original fabrics are synonyms for Issey Miyake. With extraordinary creativity, Miyake made his way to retain a permanent seat in the fashion industry of the world, Paris. Confronting a marvelous designer like Issey Miyake, the towering Eiffel Tower even seems dimmer.

Works Cited

Bartlett, Djurdja. "Issey Miyake: Making Things." Fashion Theory: The Journal Of Dress, Body & Culture 4.2 (2000): 223-227. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Mon. 05  Nov. 2012. 

Baxbaum, Gerda, edt. Icons of Fashion: The 20th Century. Munich: Prestel Pub, 2005.

Issey Miyake Inc. Official Website.