Issey Miyake, a “flying designer” known for his creases, has died at the age of 84

It would be reductive to summarize it in its folds, yet Issey Miyake excelled in the art of sculpting what he wanted using this technique. Agence France-Presse has just learned today of the death, which took place on August 5, 2022, of this immense designer.

Issey Miyake, April 22, 1938 – August 5, 2022

He, born on April 22, 1938, was only 7 years old when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on his hometown of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. If he survived, his mother died of radiation damage three years later. What initiates an unquantifiable trauma in the couturier.

A graduate of Tama University of Fine Arts in Tokyo, Issey Miyake moved to Paris in 1965 and continued his studies at the School of the Parisian Couture Union Chamber. After making his bones with Guy Laroche and Givenchy, he returned to Japan to found his own brand in the 1960s, before returning to present it in Paris in the 1980s. His use of folds is particularly striking, as he uses them everywhere, to dress and accompany the body in its movements.from head to toe, earning the nickname flying tailor “.

In 1999 he gave up the artistic direction of his namesake label. to Naoki Takizawa. In 2007 he was succeeded by Dai Fujiwara, then Yoshiyuki Miyamae in 2011. Since 2019 Satoshi Kondo is the artistic director of the Issey Miyake brand..

Today, the house that bears his name perpetuates it through 9 different labels: Issey Miyake, IM MEN, 132 5. Issey Miyake, Pleats Please Issey Miyake, Homme Plissé Issey Miyake, A-POC Able Issey Mikaye, Bao Bao Issey Miyake, me Issey Miyake and Haat. It is therefore an empire of fashion, of folds, and of pain that man leaves behind.

Issey Miyake, Japanese creator of “ready-to-fly”

If he marked eternity with his protean plissé, Issey Miyake offered much more, as can be seen in the beautiful and sublime book published in 2016, edited by Midori Kitamura (president of the Miyake Design Studio) for the Taschen house, and which soberly bears the name of the Japanese designer. It consists of texts by Kazuko Koike (a distinguished Japanese artistic director) and dreamlike photographs by Yuriko Takagi.

We find the creator’s vision of the utilitarian and poetic dress at the same time, which has been able, in its own unique way, to put Japanese artisan traditions at the service of tomorrow’s international fashion. In the words of his friend, Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass, Issey Miyake did not offer prêt-à-porter, but ” ready to fly “.

Cover photo credit: YouTube thumbnail of Fashion Roadman’s “Why We Love ISSEY MIYAKE Pleats” video.