Issey Miyake
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was a Japanese fashion designer. He was known for his technology-driven clothing designs, exhibitions and fragrances, such as '' L'eau d'Issey'', which became his best-known product.


Early life and education

Miyake was born on 22 April 1938 in
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...
. He was still living in the city seven years later when the U.S. military dropped an atomic bomb there in August 1945. He first disclosed this in 2009, when
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
advocated for global
nuclear disarmament Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term ''denuclearization'' is also used to describe the pro ...
. As a child, Miyake wanted to become a dancer. His interest in fashion started by studying his sister's
fashion magazines Fashion journalism is a component of fashion media, with a focus on writing and photojournalism. Fashion journalists write about and critique fashion events and trends as well as cultivate and maintain relationships with stylists and designers. F ...
. He studied
graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...
at the
Tama Art University or is a private Art school, art university located in Tokyo, Japan. It is known as one of the top art schools in Japan. History The forerunner of Tamabi was Tama Imperial Art School (多摩帝国美術学校, Tama Teikoku Bijutsu Gakkō) fou ...
in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, graduating in 1964. He entered designs into fashion competition at the
Bunka Fashion College is a Japanese Vocational education, vocational school specializing in fashion design and related disciplines. It is headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and has more than 70 branches throughout Japan. History The college was founded in 1919 by Is ...
in Tokyo. However, he did not win a competition due to his lack of pattern-making or
sewing Sewing is the craft of fastening pieces of textiles together using a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabric, archaeo ...
skills. After graduation, he enrolled in the '' Chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne'' school in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and was apprenticed to Guy Laroche as assistant designer. He also worked with
Hubert de Givenchy Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (; 20 February 1927 – 10 March 2018) was a French fashion designer who founded the luxury fashion and perfume house of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the personal and professi ...
, drawing 50 to 100 sketches daily.


Career

In 1969, Miyake moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where he met artists like
Christo Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks a ...
and
Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954 ...
. He was enrolled in English classes at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
and worked on Seventh Avenue for designer Geoffrey Beene. Returning to Tokyo in 1970, he founded the Miyake Design Studio, a high-end producer of women's fashion. From a young age, Miyake respected artist
Isamu Noguchi was an American artist, furniture designer and Landscape architecture, landscape architect whose career spanned six decades from the 1920s. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Grah ...
, whose novelty and sense of fun in his designs inspired Miyake. He was also inspired by fashion designer Madeleine Vionnet's use of geometric calculations and "a single piece of beautiful cloth". In Paris, he visited several museums and he mentioned that he was influenced by sculptors such as
Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...
and
Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...
. In the late 1980s, Miyake began to experiment with new methods of
pleat A pleat (plait in older English) is a type of fold formed by doubling textile, fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to gather a wide piece of fabric to a narrower circumference. Pleat ...
ing that would allow both flexibility of movement for the wearer as well as ease of care and production. The garments are cut and sewn first, then sandwiched between layers of paper and fed into a heat press, where they are pleated. The fabric's 'memory' holds the pleats and when the garments are liberated from their paper cocoon, they are ready-to wear. Miyake had a long friendship with Austrian-born pottery artist Dame Lucie Rie. She presented him with her archival ceramic buttons, which he integrated into his designs. He also developed a friendship with
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
's
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
, who came to him after seeing the uniforms Miyake designed for employees of Sony's factories. At Jobs's request, Miyake designed similar vests for Apple employees, but Jobs encountered strong opposition to the idea of a uniform. Nonetheless, Miyake went on to produce the black turtlenecks which would become 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." Fashion designer Geoffrey Beene stated that he admired Issey Miyake for Miyake's technique, this in an interview with poet/artist Steven Vita in ''Veery'' journal, 1991. In March 1992, Miyake was quoted in the ''
International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...
'' as saying "Design is not for philosophy—it's for life." Between 1996 and 1999, Miyake collaborated with artists for his Guest Artist series. The first collaboration was with the photographer and collage maker Yasumasa Morimura; the other artists were Nobuyoshi Araki, Tim Hawkinson, and Cai Guo-Qiang. Miyake stated that his intention was not to answer the question "Is fashion art?" but instead to create an "interactive relationship" between the art and the people who admired it. By wearing the artworks upon their bodies, the wearers interacted with fashion and art simultaneously. Miyake was also one of the co-Directors of 21 21 DESIGN SIGHT, Japan's first
design museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London, England, exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all fund ...
. Miyake died of
liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...
on 5 August 2022, at the age of 84. File:Issey Miyake, Summer 1984 - Indigo Batik Dress 01.jpg, 1984 'Indigo Batik' cotton
kaftan A kaftan or caftan (; , ; , ; ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's long suit ...
dress, RISD Museum File:Issey Miyake Rhythm Pleats series 1990.jpg, 1990 'Rhythm Pleats' collection File:Yasumasa Morimura for Issey Miyake, printed polyester, 1997 02.jpg, 1996-7 'Guest Artist' design, Yasumasa Morimura for Miyake, RISD Museum File:Gunpowder Dress by Cai Guo-Qiang for Issey Miyake, printed polyester, 1998 02.jpg, 1998 'Guest Artist' design, Cai Guo-Qiang for Miyake, RISD Museum File:Steve Jobs talks about the iPhone (2197013436) (cropped).jpg, Steve Jobs wearing his signature black mock turtle neck by Issey MiyakeSteve Jobs' black turtleneck reportedly explained in biography
(Nathan Olivarez-Giles, Los Angeles Times, October 11, 2011)


''Issey Miyake''


Main line

''Issey Miyake'' is the main collection line, subdivided into ''men'' (since 1978/85) and ''women'' (since 1971) collections. DNR -A-POC making The first Issey Miyake collection, for fall 1971, featured a dress with a Japanese-style tattoo print of
Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...
and
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
created by Makiko Minagawa, an artist who joined the studio staff. Shortly after, Miyake did the costume for Ballett Frankfurt with an ultra feather-polyester jersey permanently pleated in a piece named "the Loss of Small Detail" William Forsythe and also work on ballet "Garden in the setting". He realized that the new method of making clothes fit well in dancers. After studying how dancers move, he sent 200 to 300 garments for dancers to wear a different one in each performance of ''The Last Detail''. This led to the development of the ''Pleats, Please'' range and inspired him to use dancers to display his work. Released in 1993, Miyake's Pleats Please line of clothing, made from a near weightless polyester, featured waterfalls of razor-sharp, accordionlike pleats offering the ease of loungewear. They became his most recognizable look, with ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' fashion editor Sylvia Rubin crediting Miyake together with
Babette Pinsky Babette Pinsky is an American fashion design, clothing designer known for creating Babette, a defunct line of upscale women's clothing produced and designed by Pinsky in Oakland, California and sold across the United States in department stores, ...
with "reinventing" the Mariano Fortuny pleat. In 1994 and 1999, Miyake turned over the design of the men's and women's collections respectively, to his associate, Naoki Takizawa, so that he could return to research full-time. In 2007, Naoki Takizawa opened his own brand supported by the Issey Miyake Group and was replaced as Creative Director by Dai Fujiwara, who ran the House of Issey Miyake until 2012. The design duties were split as of the Spring/Summer 2012 collections, with Yoshiyuki Miyamae appointed head designer of the women's collection and Yusuke Takahashi designing the men's line.


Other lines and brands

Miyake "oversaw the overall direction of all lines created by his company", even though the individual collections have been designed by his staff since his 'retirement' from the fashion world in 1997. Contemporary Magazine – The A-POC epoch *Issey Miyake Fête – colorful women's line that "draws on the technological innovations of Pleats Please" (Fête means 'celebration' in French) (since 2004) *Pleats Please Issey Miyake –
polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...
jersey garments for women that are first "cut and sewn and then pleated ..(normally, fabric is first pleated and then cut and sewn .." "to permanently retain washboard rows of horizontal, vertical or diagonal knife-edge pleats". Miyake patented the technique in 1993 *HaaT – women's line, designed by Miyake's former textile designer, Makiko Minagawa. HaaT means 'village market' in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
, and the word sounds similar to 'heart' in English *A-POC – 1998– custom-collection for men and women. Tubes of fabric are machine-processed and can be cut into various shapes by the consumer. A-POC is an
acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
of 'a piece of cloth', and a near
homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...
of 'epoch'. *132 5. Issey Miyake – an evolution of the A-POC concept. Works are presented as two-dimensional geometric shapes made from recycled
polyethylene terephthalate Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in synthetic fibre, fibres for clothing, packaging, conta ...
mixed with natural fibers and dyes, which then unfold into structured garments. (since 2014) *APOC Able – a further evolution of the A-POC concept centered around advanced and innovative weaving technologies (since 2020) *me Issey Miyake – line of "exclusive one-sized shirts that stretch to fit the wearer" that are sold in a plastic tube, named Cauliflower for the non-Asian market. (since 2001) *Homme Plisse – men's clothing in the signature Issey Miyake pleatin

(since 2013) *IM Men – men's line for casual wea

(since 2020); the brand's logo, developed by graphic designer Taku Satoh, consists of an IM motif that was originally designed by Ikko Tanaka in 1979 and was previously used for non-clothing products *Bao Bao Issey Miyake – line of bags *Issey Miyake Watches – men's and women's watches *Issey Miyake Perfumes – line of fragrances for men and women. See below *Evian by Issey Miyake – Limited edition bottle designed by Issey Miyake for Evian water. *Issey Miyake maintained a freestanding store, named ELTTOB TEP Issey Miyake (reverse of 'Pet Bottle') in
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
, where the full array of lines is available. *Issey Skyline – produced in limited quantities to promote the release of the Nissan Skyline in 1982.


Perfumes

Like many fashion designers, Issey Miyake also had a line of perfumes. His first fragrance, L'eau d'Issey, was created by perfumer
Jacques Cavallier Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud (born 24 January 1962) is a French perfumer, formerly with the Swiss fragrance and flavor company Firmenich, who currently works for Louis Vuitton of the LVMH Luxury Group. He has created or collaborated in the cre ...
. The scent was followed by L'eau d'Issey Pour Homme (for men) in 1994. L'eau Bleue d'Issey Pour Homme was introduced in 2004; and its evolution, L'eau Bleue d'Issey Eau Fraiche was introduced in 2006. Every year from 2007 on, Issey Miyake brought out a "limited time only" fragrance for ladies, for which he brought in a "guest" perfumer. In 2007, he launched 'Drop on a Petal', and in 2008 he launched 'Reflections in a Drop'. A new Issey Miyake men's fragrance, L'eau d'Issey Pour Homme Intense, was introduced at
Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...
in the United States in June 2007, with a larger worldwide rollout following in September 2007. Issey Miyake fragrances are produced under a long-term agreement by the Beauté Prestige International division of
Shiseido is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world an ...
.


Other activities

In 1992, Issey Miyake designed the Lithuanian national team's official uniform for the
1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
in Barcelona. Working with Ron Arad, Miyake created A-POC Trampoline, which was a knit jacket, pants and stole.


Miyake Issey Foundation

The Miyake Issey Foundation, founded in Tokyo in 2004, operates the ''21_21 Design Sight'' center, organizes exhibitions and events, and publishes literature. 21 21 Design Sight (a play on
20/20 vision Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an animal's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neural factors. Optical factors of the eye influence the sha ...
) is a museum-style research center for design, constructed by
Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese autodidact architect known for his unique integration of architecture and landscape. Architectural historian Francesco Dal Co described his work as an example of " critical regionalism". Ando received the prestigious ...
, that was opened in
Roppongi Roppongi (, , 'six trees') is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popu ...
, Tokyo in March 2007. The center was headed by Issey Miyake (until his death in 2022) and four other Japanese designers, and operated by ''The Miyake Issey Foundation''.


Recognition


Exhibitions

Many of Miyake's designs are in museums, including the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
’s permanent collection. From March 2016, the largest retrospective of his work was organized at The National Art Center, Tokyo, celebrating 45 years of career.


Honours

* 2005 –
Praemium Imperiale Prince Takamatsu The Praemium Imperiale () is an international art prize inaugurated in 1988 and awarded since 1989 by the Imperial family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, mu ...
(for Sculpture) * 2006 –
Kyoto Prize The is Japan's highest private award for lifetime achievement in the arts and sciences. It is given not only to those that are top representatives of their own respective fields, but to "those who have contributed significantly to the scientific, ...
* 2010 –
Order of Culture The is a Japanese Order (decoration), order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japanese Art, Japan's art, Japanese Literature, literature, science, technolog ...
(Japan) * 2014 – XXIII Premio Compasso d'Oro
ADI Adi or ADI may refer to: Abbreviations * Acceptable daily intake, in health and medicine * Acting detective inspector, a type of police inspector * Africa Development Indicators, a compilation of data assembled by the World Bank * Alternating ...
(for family of lamps IN-EI Issey Miyake, Artemide) * 2016 –
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
(France)Morwenna Ferrier (9 August 2022)
Issey Miyake, famed Japanese fashion designer, dies aged 84
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''.


References


External links

* ;Exhibitions
Issey Miyake at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain (Paris)

Exhibition including Miyake's work at the Cincinnati Art Museum

Art Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work


{{DEFAULTSORT:Miyake, Issey 1938 births 2022 deaths Bags (fashion) Clothing brands of Japan Hibakusha High fashion brands Japanese fashion designers Kyoto laureates in Arts and Philosophy Recipients of the Legion of Honour People from Hiroshima Recipients of the Order of Culture Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Compasso d'Oro Award recipients Deaths from liver cancer in Japan