“I believe there is hope in design. Design inspires surprise and joy in people.” The Japanese designer Issey Miyake, who died in 2022, worked according to this maxim throughout his life. The unique style of his garments stands out in the world of fashion, as does his willingness to experiment with materials, cuts, fabrics, his vision for nature and technology, tradition and modernity. His fashion contains many “firsts” in workmanship and techniques, Miyake has given free rein to his imagination while also taking the needs of his customers into account – for example with his own line of cheaper, comfortable and easily washable wardrobe.
“Issey Miyake”, edited by Midori Kitamura and with an essay by Kazuko Koike. Taschen Verlag, revised edition 2024. Bilingual in English and Japanese. 250 pages, 80 euros. Can be ordered here.
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The above quote opens a 450-page illustrated book in which Taschen Verlag publishes a chronological sequence and thus the master’s development – from drafts to the finished garment, from the 1960s to his death. The fashion show was put together by Midori Kitamura, who has worked with him for almost 50 years and is chairwoman of the Miyake Design Studio. Keeping up with a firestorm of ideas à la Miyake is a special task, but running your company also requires great trust in the designer’s creativity. Midori Kitamura apparently kept it even after Miyake’s death.
Issey Miyake: A man for eternity
Kazuko Koike, a creative director born in Tokyo, wrote a guest article with an essay. She published the book “Issey Miyake, East Meets West” back in 1978. In 2012 she curated the exhibition “Ikko Tanaka and Future/Past/East/West of Design” in Tokyo – Tanaka was a graphic designer whose art Miyake also used on his clothing.
The fact that the Japanese Issey Miyake found so many fans in Europe at the end of the last millennium and still does today is unusual and a testament to his art of connecting centuries and continents in his own unique way. Miyake thought against the grain – you could also say he freed the wrinkles from the pleated skirt. Actually, you would want to have at least one piece from every decade of your career in your wardrobe, if it weren’t for the price. But at least: his fashion will probably never become unfashionable.