This is a guest post from our friend Jeanna Heeraman from FunkyHead.co.uk.
Only one Japanese fashion designer can say “PLEATS PLEASEâ€, yes the iconic Issey Miyake saying.
Born in Hiroshima 1938, the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu and the largest island of Japan, Miyakes work is best known for combining western and eastern elements. From studying graphic design at Tokyo’s Tama Art University to moving to Paris after graduation, Miyakes designs and ideas have evolved. Miyake started his work in fashion from working behind the scenes back in 1966 and in 1973 Miyake went independent, establishing his studio in Toykyo and displaying his own work.
What did Miyakes fashion have to offer the world? Miyake’s fashion is a timeline in itself, the early days of Miyake saw one of the most important designs, the jersey dress that was named “Tattoo,” this featured a print modeled after Japanese style tattoos. The print was designed by the textile designer Makiko Minagawa, who joined Miyake’s activities in 1971. During the 70’s Miyakes fashion was traditional but onto experimentation and the 80’s Miyake fashion was born. It was the 1980s that saw Miyake’s name become recognised, his bold multi coloured designs took the stage. The New York department store Bloomingdale’s devoted a section to selling Miyake’s “East meets West†look, tattoo designs to coats featuring the sashiko technique, Miyakes fashion grew from here. The 90’s saw the pleat in fashion, Miyakes pleat please fashion was born, made of oversize pieces of fabric that were sewn together and hand-fed, sandwiched between two sheets of paper, through a heat press so it would give them permanent pleats and leave them ready to wear, an inspiration to the world of fashion. The Issey Miyake Fete collection continued into 2004, womens fashion became colourful and it was a celebration of colour.
Miyakes fashion is expressive, it is technology driven and has seen an evolvement in the fashion world. Miyake has won numerous fashion awards, including the Neiman Marcus Award and the Council of Fashion Designers of America International Award.
Issey Miyake’s fashion has evolved in many ways, he developed a friendship with Apple’s Steve Jobs and produced the black turtlenecks which became a part of Jobs’ signature attire. Jobs said, “So I asked Issey to make me some of his black turtlenecks that I liked, and he made me like a hundred of them.”
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