After a decade of ‘room-rockers’, there was something so refreshing – literally – about a fragrance as clear as water, in a stupendously simple and beautiful bottle, which smelled so pure and so fresh. L’Eau d’Issey was literally an antidote, for many, to those so-opulent scents – and the fragrance became a true scent icon. In reality, Issey Miyake calls himself a ‘clothing designer’, rather than a ‘fashion designer’ – and it’s true, his boundary-pushing designs transcend trends, allowing wearers to express their own individuality and freedom. He draws on ancient traditions – the folding of paper, the drape of fabric – for an utterly timeless yet completely modern look: a balance between tradition and innovation, handcrafts and new technology. He says, ‘Curiosity and happiness are at the core of my work. Design is never static but it is only possible after constant exchanges of ideas, aesthetics and sensibilities.’ Continues Issey Miyake, ‘Clothes are of no interest except insofar as they provoke sentiments and reactions in those who wear them. I create, not to express my ego or my personality, but rather to try and bring answers to those who are asking themselves questions about our era and how we should live in it.’ Born in Hiroshima, Japan, his interest in fashion began in childhood. (We’re told he read his sister’s copy of Vogue.) Astonishingly, Issey Miyake survived the atomic bombing of his hometown, but lost many of his family. At 21, he enrolled at Tama Art University in Tokyo, graduating in graphic design. His first collection, in 1963, was called ‘A Poem of Cloth and Stone’, setting the scene for future ground-breaking shows. And within two years, Issey Miyake had moved to Paris and enrolled at the ‘couture school’. He also travelled regularly to London, entranced by boutiques like Biba, part of the Youthquake shaking Britain. Gutenberg NetworksIssey Miyake worked for a range of international names – Guy Laroche, Givenchy, Geoffrey Beene – before setting up the Miyake Design Studio, first showing in New York in 1971. Almost from the start, magazine editors loved his creations, so different to anything else out there – closer to art and architecture, in many cases, than mere clothes. (And as such, exhibited widely in galleries and museums, since the early days of Miyake’s career.) Technology-driven and textile-focused, his innovations include the Pleats Please collection, which was born in 1993: the age-old notion of wrapping a body in two dimensional materials – pleats – which drew on new technology, to utterly beautiful results. The idea for the designs came about when Issey Miyake was invited to create costumes for a ballet, ‘The Loss of Small Detail’. The pleats allowed the dancers to move – and since then, they’ve offered a sense of freedom to countless wearers who’ve embraced Pleats Please, which has gone around the world in 80 colours, embodying exuberance, dynamism and colour.
