Since designer Issey Miyake presented his first collection in 1971, ISSEY MIYAKE has been designing and making clothing that explores the relationship—the ease and ma (the unfilled space)—between the wearer’s body and the fabric of the wear, which is founded upon the brand’s unwavering approach to the concept of a piece of cloth, thereby developing clothing that is universal and unbound by the Western vs. Eastern conventions of clothing design. Today, the brand continues to engage in research that begins with developing yarn from which original fabrics are created.
BRANDS
IM MEN started in 2021 as a menswear brand in pursuit of different manufacturing technologies, while still thinking about Issey Miyake’s concept “a piece of cloth”.
IM MEN creates products as a team, leveraging the expertise of each member who researches the structure and materials of clothing, and using ideas and techniques from unique perspectives. The brand aims to create products that integrate technology, design, and creation by sharing experimental processes.
Launched in 2010, 132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE is the result of the research and development conducted since early 2000 by designer Issey Miyake and a cross-generation team in search of new materials for the future as well as original expressions in clothing. The brand is founded on the engineering of folding constructions and the research of recycled materials. The numbers in the brand name refer to: (1) piece of cloth becoming a (3)-dimensional form that is folded into a (2)-dimensional plane, worn on the wearer’s body to convey a presence in the (5)th dimension that transcends time and space. While working with recycled polyester, it develops fabrics blended with natural fibers and/or plant-based synthetic fibers, in pursuit of design that promotes upcycles in our environment, society, and everyday life.
Presenting its first collection of the spring summer 1994 season as an independent brand, PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE’s origin goes back to the work of pleats presented in 1988 at the ISSEY MIYAKE collection. Developing fabrics made from original yarn, the brand creates garments of utility, designed as products for everyday life, made possible by the technology of garment pleating, where garments are first sewn and then pleated to finish. Being lightweight, easy to wear, and machine-washable, the brand’s garments of simplicity and convenience adapt to each wearer’s body and movement for a one-of-a-kind silhouette. The garments are not only a product of garment pleating as each one of their designs is a creative application of the technology, reflecting ISSEY MIAYKE’s design and making to bring a sense of joy and freedom to people of modern life.
Launched in 2013, HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE is founded on the technology of garment pleating that designs and makes everyday wear that is universal for the diversity of the wearers. The garments, being wrinkle-resistant, quick to dry, lightweight, and easy to wear, are designed as products for everyday life that adapt to each wearer’s body as they bring out individual personalities. The uniformity found in the pleated fabric lends itself to the freedom in mixing and matching items, and to that end new discoveries of one’s self.
A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE is a brand that sets out to weave the future by instigating dialogues on clothing between creators and wearers. A-POC, announced in 1998, has revolutionized the process of clothes-making, where it introduced a new form of design in which the wearers partake. With more dynamism, a team of engineers set out to further develop what A-POC has created and evolved into over time. Within a piece of cloth bringing about different ideas and diverse relationships with the wearers, the brand creates a variety of “ABLE’s” by engaging with different professions and industries.
Launched with its first collection of the autumn winter 2010 season as an independent brand, BAO BAO ISSEY MIYAKE creates bags of innovative designs out of compositions of a variety of triangles. Not only are the bags—transforming from planes into geometric forms as they fill with items—designed for various occasions in life, but also they are products of utility that can be carried and stored flat. As the brand continues to explore the possibilities within the shapes and arrangement of geometric pieces, it engages in research and development of new materials along with new styles of bags, thereby challenging itself to look at what a bag is, while bringing a sense of beauty, wonder, and joy to the users.
me ISSEY MIYAKE started in 2000 to create clothing for the ease and enjoyment of one’s everyday life, designing and making garments with a focus on lightweight, compact, and easy-care tops that are free and fun to match. Its signature stretch pleats is a series of garments with vertical and horizontal pleats that easily fit every wearer like t-shirts.
A threefold play on words: ‘HaaT,’ meaning ‘village market’ in Sanskrit, symbolizing a diverse range of techniques, textiles and aesthetics; the ‘Heart’ which employs traditional crafts to make contemporary clothing; and ‘Haath,’ meaning hands in Sanskrit, which conveys the subtle nuances that arise from the collaboration between Japanese design and Indian handiwork. The creative director, Makiko Minagawa, made her mark for 30 years as the textile director for ISSEY MIYAKE. HaaT began from 2000.