To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the line 'Pleats Please Issey Miyake', the house has created 'Pleats Please Happy Anniversary', a series visual delicacies immortalised from Miyake's signature fabric, in a palette of luscious colours key to
Who? Designer Issey Miyake has been pushing the technological boundaries of fashion design since he showed his first collection in Paris in 1973. The first Japanese designer to be featured in the prêt-à-porter schedule, his debut show featured the layered wraps of fabric which would become his hallmark. The brand, which fuses Miyake's unique minimalist aesthetic with avant-garde technology, has since expanded to incorporate handbags, perfumes, watches and eyewear, as well as several clothing lines. At the age of seventy-four, Miyake continues to oversee all lines created by his company, as well as the activity of the Tokyo-based Miyake Issey Foundation.
What? Miyake began his exploration into the constraints of fashion design with the traditional Japanese kimono - a piece which underpins his love of layering, and his fascination with the manipulation of textiles. Accordingly, his design process challenges the conventions of garment creation; by focusing on the relationship between the fabric and the body, Miyake is able to create innovative new manufacturing processes, and versatile, enduring pieces.
“From the beginning I thought about working with the body in movement, the space between the body and clothes. They are for people to dance or laugh” – Issey Miyake
In 1993, the designer launched 'Pleats Please Issey Miyake', the line which indulges the designer's ardour for pleating. In Miyake's innovative manufacturing process, the garments are first cut and sewn from 100% polyester two-and-a-half to three times larger than the finished garments, before being sandwiched between layers of paper and fed into a heat press to be 'cooked'. Once removed, the innovative fabric shrinks to create and permanently retain the knife-edge pleats, allowing it not only to move and expand with the contours of the body, but also to return immediately to its original shape once removed. “From the beginning I thought about working with the body in movement, the space between the body and clothes,” Miyake explains. “I wanted the clothes to move when people moved. The clothes are also for people to dance or laugh.”
Why? To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the line 'Pleats Please Issey Miyake', the house has created 'Pleats Please Happy Anniversary', a series visual delicacies immortalised from Miyake's signature fabric, in a palette of luscious colours key to his AW12 collection. In one of the delectable images, a melting scoop of Miyake's pleats in lime green are swirled onto an ice cream cone, fashioning a delicious dessert from the signature fabric, while in another, a brimming pair of trompe l'oeil wine glasses toast the twentieth birthday of Miyake's creation. There's surely no better way to celebrate a birthday than with this truly lavish visual feast.
Text by Maisie Skidmore
