Miyake, Issey

(1938- )

   Born in Hiroshima, Japan, Miyake graduated in 1964 with a degree in graphic design from Tama Art University, Tokyo. Before graduation he showed a clothing collection in a multimedia theatrical event, Poem in Cloth and Stone, solidifying his reputation as an artist and clothing designer. Upon graduation, he moved to Paris and studied at the École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture. In 1966, he apprenticed with Guy Laroche and two years later with Givenchy, where he mastered his craft in the high fashion world of the haute couture. In 1969, Miyake left Paris for New York where he worked for Geoffrey Beene, another creative genius. In 1970, he returned to Tokyo and opened Miyake Design Studio. In rebellion against the staid fashions of the time, Miyake began experimenting with fabric and the concept of creating clothes from a single piece of cloth, which he would later perfect. As a result of a friend's effort, some of his pieces were shown to Vogue magazine and to Bloomingdale's. Both were quick to acknowledge his talent. Miyake was soon featured in Vogue magazine and given a small in-store shop at Bloomingdale's in 1971. He was the first Japanese designer to be invited to show at the newly formed Paris prêt-à-porter show in 1973, and later was invited to become an official member of the French prêt-à-porter organization. During the 1960s and 1970s, his "downtown unisex" look was popular and portended an exploration of an early anti-Western dress era.

   Miyake is considered the founding father of the Japanese avantgarde movement, which began in the early 1980s. Other Japanese contemporaries supported the movement such as Rei Kawakubo, with her Comme des Garçons line, and Yohji Yamamoto, though it was never a formal or organized movement. Miyake's unconventional approach to Western style and his collaboration with textile designer Makiko Minagawa resulted in some of the most innovative textiles of the twentieth century. His oversized, bag-lady look of the 1980s was a welcome change from the tight-fitting fashion which was popular at that time. In 1983, Miyake launched a collection, Plantation, which was a commercial success and introduced the world to his unique design philosophy. In 1988, his solo show at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs solidified his title as artist/designer. In 1993, Miyake again collaborated with Makiko Minagawa and created perhaps his most commercially successful collection, Pleats Please (unique pleated pieces), which reversed the Western close-to-the-body style of dressing to a loose, less-constructed aesthetic. Garments were pleated after they were constructed, which differed from previous pleating techniques popularized by Mariano Fortuny and Mary McFadden, who pleated the cloth first. Miyake collaborated with other artists for this project, such as Yasamasa Mori, Nobuyoshi Araki, Tim Hawkinson, and Cai Guo-Qiang.

   In 1999, Miyake once again challenged the status quo with his A-POC (A Piece Of Cloth) collection—a concept whereby clothes were made out of a single piece of jersey, giving creative control to the wearer rather than the designer while at the same time minimizing waste by utilizing all of the cloth. He featured the concept in a gallery show called Making Things at the Foundation Cartier in Paris, during that same year. In 1994 and 1999, respectively, Miyake passed the torch for his women's and men's line to Naoki Takizawa and spent most his time on his A-POC line and research. Miyake has stores in Tokyo, Paris, and London and his flagship store, in Tribeca, was designed by famous architect Frank Gehry. In 2004, he launched a follow-up fragrance to L'Eau d'Issy and L'Eau d'Issy Pour Homme, called L'Eau Bleue D'Issy Pour Homme for younger men.