Issey Miyake (Brand)

Issey Miyake
Established	1971
Years Active	1971-present
Parent Company	Miyake Design Studio Co., Ltd.
Website	https://www.isseymiyake.com/

Issey Miyake (Brand) is Issey Miyake's eponymous fashion brand founded in Japan.

Background

Issey Miyake is a Japanese brand renowned for their in-house developed pleats technology, fluid silhouettes and A-POC concept.

After working for years as an apprentice in Paris, Issey Miyake decided to develop clothing in a different style than the popular one at the time, aimed at the elite, wanting to design clothing that would appeal to women of all ages and professions, breaking away from temporality.

History

1970s

In 1970, the Miyake Design Studio is established by Issey Miyake in Japan with the financial help from friends of his. The first collection is presented as part of the TORAY KNIT EXHIBITION, where Issey Miyake revealed a modular approach that he called Constructible Clothes including pieces such as sashiko jeans.

A year later, Miyake founded Issey Miyake International, Inc. and presented the first overseas collection in New York as part of the opening of the Japan House Gallery, and in 1973 the brand started to present in Paris two collections every year.

The first physical store was opened in 1976 in Minami Aoyama, Tokyo. A year later, 'A Piece Of Cloth - Issey Miyake at the Museum' was presented at the Seibu Museum of Art, around the time of the Mainichi Design Award 1976.

Miyake published 'Issey Miyake - East Meets West' in 1978, being the first monograph of a living fashion designer ever published. The book was a collage of photographs and perspectives written by a multitude of artists on his work of 'A Piece Of Cloth.

1980s

In 1980, Issey Miyake produced the costumes for the show Casta Diva, and two years later, the SS1983 collection is shown on the U.S.S. Intrepid aircraft carrier and museum in New York.

After having helped organise the Evolution of Fashion: 1835-1895 exhibition in Kyoto, Miyake develops the The Bodyworks exhibition, exhibited between Tokyo, London, Los Angeles and San Francisco 1983-1985, as a result of his research on new materials and the plasticity of the body.

The Plantation line, using thick shell buttons, natural fibres, solid stitching, large sleeves and bodices and a simplicity in colour and cut, was established in 1981 as a collection of 'living clothes' for everyday living.

In 1988, the A-ŪN exhibition consisted of 76 and was born out of Miyake's research on materials together with Makiko Minagawa. Materials included corrugated cloth of 2-3 layers of compressed wool, oiled paper, lacquered polyester.

In 1988, the CICADA collection shows pleated pieces for the first time, in the style that would consecrate the brand.

1990s

The encounter of Issey Miyake with William Forsythe and the Frankfurt Ballet would birth the first Pleats Please Issey Miyake collection in 1990, although it would only be launched commercially in 1993. Fascinated by the shapes of the dancers bodies and their movement in dance, Miyake decided to design a collection of costumes for them. By considering the interaction between body and his Pleated fabric, the designer would devise lightweight costumes whose flexibility would follow the dancer movements in the air.

Style

Describe the brand’s aesthetic: materials, construction, silhouettes, or overall visual identity.

Themes

Discuss the central ideas, narratives, or cultural topics the brand explores across collections (e.g. futurism, nostalgia, urban rebellion).

Issey Miyake's work was born out of a reaction against faddish trends, Western fashion's ultra-focus on the upper class, and the preponderence of postmodernism at the time.

Materials

Pleated clothing is traditionally executed by first pleating the fabric, then cutting the garment. Issey Miyake's technique was to cut the garment first, then fold it, iron it, and oversew it to secure the pleats position. Pleats Please Issey Miyake garments are made in the Tohoku region, northern Japan, by around hundred employees whose main work is on the house's custom pleats.

Notable Products

List and describe iconic or bestselling products. Highlight pieces that define the brand’s legacy or reputation.

Collections

Mention key runway collections or capsules. Include details like debut years, creative direction, standout looks, or reception.

Creative Directors

Name	Tenure
Issey Miyake	1970–2011
Yoshiyuki Miyamae	2011–2019
Satoshi Kondo	2019–present

CEOs

Name	Tenure
Sample CEO	2005–2013
Sample Executive	2013–present
Add CEOs and their tenure here.