Issey Miyake Deserves His Flowers
By Claire Haskell
Where rhythm meets structure, experimental meets sustainability, unconventional meets innovation, where Issey Miyake takes its form. In a time when 1970s fashion was making the shift towards tightly fitted garments, Issey Miyake took his designs in the opposite direction. By pushing every fashion boundary possible and redefining the conventional, Miyake is one of the most monumental influences in the global fashion industry today.
Born in 1938 in Hiroshima, Japan, Miyake led his life by creative design, attending Tama Art University in Tokyo and later working as an apprentice at Givenchy. When he founded the company in the 1970s in New York City, Miyake’s introduced the concept of allowing the body to assume complete control over the garment. Before his influence, the female body was expected to respond to the item’s design, as defined by constrictive pieces made to expose each curve. He became the first designer to take pride in the unrestricted, the imperfect, and the unfinished.
His designs draw the viewer's eyes in and keep them wandering until every inch of the garment is visually covered. From head to toe, his pieces are defined by the experimentation of pleats and significantly oversized proportions. The holes are ten times wider than the arms that go in them, and the patterns take no particularly organized structure. Miyake’s designs are unparalleled in their distinctiveness.
Miyake’s first collection was featured in Bloomingdale’s and included eccentric T-shirt designs embroidered with sashiko, a Japanese sewing technique, and dyed with Japanese tattoo compositions. Following this collection, his designs drew international attention, and sometimes critiques, of people worldwide.
What you may know now as “archive fashion” was greatly inspired by Miyake and his development of the avant-garde in 1981. The designer embraced the otherwise unorthodox or radical avant-garde technique with open arms; his pieces embodied variability and aesthetic innovation. Each garment had holes on multiple ends and fabrics layered on top of one another, leaving it up to the individual to decide. This was a concept that was unprecedented in fashion; the designer had always defined how the garment is worn.
No designer is especially notable without a little criticism. Miyake was known for his exceptionally extravagant exhibitions, and in the 1980s, he staged a “Bodywork” exhibition featuring silicone models suspended from the ceiling. This exhibit diverged from the traditional way to display fashion designs and came as a shock to his observers. Fortunately enough, this was exactly Miyake’s intention. The designer wanted his collections to catch people’s attention but also be entirely unforgettable, even if it meant being a little controversial.
In a collection worthy of being displayed in a gallery, Miyake introduced his infamous A-POC collection in 1999. Defined literally as A Piece of Cloth, this collection means exactly what you think it means, no more and no less. Miyake created these garments with one piece of cloth designed to cover the entire body, which is where his dedication to sustainability comes in. In efforts to limit waste, Miyake applied the least amount of fabric possible by using leftover jersey material constructed into a long tube. This concept allowed buyers to cut the material themselves and wear it as they pleased, granting them the opportunity to contribute to its design. What feels special about Miyake and his collections is that he did not want to be the only creator; he envisioned a brand where he could share creative freedom with those who wore his garments. He wanted to build a collaborative atmosphere between him and his buyers.
It is quite easy to conclude that Miyake was significantly ahead of his time. Not only was Miyake aware of fashion’s environmental impact long before it became a talking point, but he created designs that could suit every gender and identification. Miyake constructed largely oversized coats that both men and women could wear without feeling constrained by gender norms. At the time, garments were designed with the idea of specific genders in mind; there was a women’s collection, and there was a men’s collection. For Miyake, it was anything you wanted it to be, and that is what made his work so special.
Fashion history cannot be complete without highlighting Miyake’s influence. As a clear contributor and trailblazer for fashion design today, he not only intuitively created an empire driven by innovation and individuality but built a brand that will continue to stand the test of time. Issey Miyake proved to the world that fashion does not have to be restricted by conventional perspectives and societal norms; you get the privilege of deciding how to wear your clothing.
Born in 1938 in Hiroshima, Japan, Miyake led his life by creative design, attending Tama Art University in Tokyo and later working as an apprentice at Givenchy. When he founded the company in the 1970s in New York City, Miyake’s introduced the concept of allowing the body to assume complete control over the garment. Before his influence, the female body was expected to respond to the item’s design, as defined by constrictive pieces made to expose each curve. He became the first designer to take pride in the unrestricted, the imperfect, and the unfinished.
His designs draw the viewer's eyes in and keep them wandering until every inch of the garment is visually covered. From head to toe, his pieces are defined by the experimentation of pleats and significantly oversized proportions. The holes are ten times wider than the arms that go in them, and the patterns take no particularly organized structure. Miyake’s designs are unparalleled in their distinctiveness.
Miyake’s first collection was featured in Bloomingdale’s and included eccentric T-shirt designs embroidered with sashiko, a Japanese sewing technique, and dyed with Japanese tattoo compositions. Following this collection, his designs drew international attention, and sometimes critiques, of people worldwide.
What you may know now as “archive fashion” was greatly inspired by Miyake and his development of the avant-garde in 1981. The designer embraced the otherwise unorthodox or radical avant-garde technique with open arms; his pieces embodied variability and aesthetic innovation. Each garment had holes on multiple ends and fabrics layered on top of one another, leaving it up to the individual to decide. This was a concept that was unprecedented in fashion; the designer had always defined how the garment is worn.
No designer is especially notable without a little criticism. Miyake was known for his exceptionally extravagant exhibitions, and in the 1980s, he staged a “Bodywork” exhibition featuring silicone models suspended from the ceiling. This exhibit diverged from the traditional way to display fashion designs and came as a shock to his observers. Fortunately enough, this was exactly Miyake’s intention. The designer wanted his collections to catch people’s attention but also be entirely unforgettable, even if it meant being a little controversial.
In a collection worthy of being displayed in a gallery, Miyake introduced his infamous A-POC collection in 1999. Defined literally as A Piece of Cloth, this collection means exactly what you think it means, no more and no less. Miyake created these garments with one piece of cloth designed to cover the entire body, which is where his dedication to sustainability comes in. In efforts to limit waste, Miyake applied the least amount of fabric possible by using leftover jersey material constructed into a long tube. This concept allowed buyers to cut the material themselves and wear it as they pleased, granting them the opportunity to contribute to its design. What feels special about Miyake and his collections is that he did not want to be the only creator; he envisioned a brand where he could share creative freedom with those who wore his garments. He wanted to build a collaborative atmosphere between him and his buyers.
It is quite easy to conclude that Miyake was significantly ahead of his time. Not only was Miyake aware of fashion’s environmental impact long before it became a talking point, but he created designs that could suit every gender and identification. Miyake constructed largely oversized coats that both men and women could wear without feeling constrained by gender norms. At the time, garments were designed with the idea of specific genders in mind; there was a women’s collection, and there was a men’s collection. For Miyake, it was anything you wanted it to be, and that is what made his work so special.
Fashion history cannot be complete without highlighting Miyake’s influence. As a clear contributor and trailblazer for fashion design today, he not only intuitively created an empire driven by innovation and individuality but built a brand that will continue to stand the test of time. Issey Miyake proved to the world that fashion does not have to be restricted by conventional perspectives and societal norms; you get the privilege of deciding how to wear your clothing.