Issey Miyake
Issey Miyake
In 1971 he founded the Issey Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo. He also opened a boutique at Bloomingdales in New York. During the 70's while still based in Tokyo, Miyake began to show his collections twice a year in Paris and they rapidly became fashion shows which no fashion addict could afford to miss. In the late 80s, he began to experiment with new methods of pleating that would allow both flexibility of movement for the wearer as well as ease of care and production. This eventually resulted in a new technique called garment pleating and in 1993's in which the garments are cut and sewn first, then sandwiched between layers of paper and fed into a heat press, where they are pleated. The fabric's 'memory' holds the pleats and when the garments are liberated from their paper cocoon, they are ready-to wear. In 1994 and 1999, Miyake turned over the design of the men's and women's collections respectively, to his associate, Naoki Takizawa, so that he could return to research full-time. In 2000, after 30 years at the forefront of design, Issey Miyake announced that he would be handing over the reins of ready-to-wear to his right-hand man Naoki Takizawa (born 1960) who has been with him since 1989. For Spring 2000 Takizawa gave the Miyake main line new direction, with cropped jackets and fitted shift dresses in simple pared-down silhouettes and fluid shapes. In 2007, Naoki Takizawa opened his own brand, supported by the Issey Miyake Group and was replaced, as a Creative Director of the House of Issey Miyake, by Dai Fujiwara. Issey Miyake is not hanging up his scissors yet though. He says "I want to go back to basics". He will focus on the A-POC range pushing the concept that real clothes can be made from a single piece of cloth. His A-POC shop opened in Spring 2000 in London. Now, recently, he has opened a huge futuristic new store in Tokyo, Japan, in the same building wherein he had founded his company in 1971. Miyake sells approximately 200,000 garments every year and more than 100 factories in Japan work for him.
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Issey Miyake