Issey Miyake

Infobox Fashion Designer

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name= Issey Miyake
nationality=Japanese
birth_date= birth date and age|1938|04|22
birth_place= Hiroshima, Japan
death_date=
death_place=
education=
label_name=Issey Miyake
significant_design=
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Nihongo|Issey Miyake|三宅 一生|Miyake Issei|extra=b. 22 April 1938 is a Japanese fashion designer. He is known for his technology-driven clothing designs, exhibitions and fragrances.

Biography

Miyake was born 22 April 1938 in Hiroshima, Japan, and studied graphic design at the Tama Art University in Tokyo, graduating in 1964. After graduation, he worked in Paris and New York City. Returning to Tokyo in 1970, he founded the Miyake Design Studio.

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 Pleats Please 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. He did the costume for Ballett Frankfurt with pleats in a piece named 'the Loss of Small Detail " William Forsythe and also work on ballet " Garden in the setting ".

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 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 lines and brands

Mr. Miyake "oversees the overall direction of all lines created by his company", even though the individual collections have been designed by his staff since his 'retirement' from the fashion world in 1997. [http://www.contemporary-magazine.com/interview59.htm Contemporary Magazine - The A-POC epoch] [http://www.fashionwindows.com/runway_shows/issey_miyake/default.asp Fashion Windows - Issey Miyake]
*Issey Miyake - main collection line, subdivided into "men" (since 1978/85) and "women" (since 1971) collections, designed by Dai Fujiwara [http://www.dnrnews.com/site/article.php?id=122 DNR -A-POC making] (succeeded Naoki Takizawa in 2006) [http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/fashion/a-z/158594/issey-miyake.html Marie Claire - Issey Miyake]
*Issey Miyake Fête - colorful women's line that "draws on the technological innovations of Pleats Please" [http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/551/goods.asp Metropolis - Festival of Stlye] (Fête means 'celebration' in French) (since 2004)
*Pleats Please Issey Miyake - polyester jersey garments for women that are first "cut and sewn and then pleated [...] (normally, fabric is first pleated and then cut and sewn [...] )" [https://pleatspleaseshop.com/#/about/about/ pleatspleaseshop.com - About Pleats] "to permanently retain washboard rows of horizontal, vertical or diagonal knife-edge pleats." [http://www.theage.com.au/news/fashion/techno-frock/2006/06/15/1149964667925.html?page=2 The Age - Techno Frock] (since 1989/93)
*HaaT - women's line, designed by Miyake's former textile designer, Makiko Minagawa. HaaT means 'village market' in Sanskrit, the word sound similar to 'heart' in English. [http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jul/12/il/FP607120311.html Honolulu Advertiser - Worldy Textiles] [http://www.iht.com/articles/2002/03/09/rjapan1_ed3_.php IHT - A new wave in Tokyo pursues the next Cool Look] (since 2000).
*A-POC - custom-collection for men and women. Tubes of fabric are machine-processed and can be cut into various shapes by the consumer. A-POC is an acronym of 'a piece of cloth', and a near homonym of 'epoch'. [http://img17.imagevenue.com/img.php?
] [http://www.contemporary-magazine.com/interview59.htm Contemporary Magazine - The A-POC epoch] [http://www.designboom.com/eng/funclub/apoc.html designboom - 'a-poc making'] [http://www.dnrnews.com/site/article.php?id=122 DNR -A-POC making] [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3992/is_200105/ai_n8936766 BNET - Issey Miyake's A-POC: A piece of cloth] [http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/apr2006/id20060425_361290.htm BusinessWeek - Issey Miyake the dream weaver] (since 1997)
*me Issey Miyake - line of "exclusive one-sized shirts that stretch to fit the wearer" that are sold in plastic tube, named Cauliflower for the non-Asian market. [http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/japan/tokyo/things-to-do-in-tokyo/where-to-shop-in-tokyo/issey-miyake.html Asiatooms.com - Issey Miyake] [http://www.designboom.com/eng/funclub/apoc_me.html Designboom - 'me'] (since 2001)
*Issey Miyake Watches - men's and women's watches
*Issey Miyake Parfums - line of fragrances for men and women, see below

*Issey Miyake maintains a freestanding store, named ELTTOB TEP Issey Miyake (reverse for 'Pet Bottle') in Osaka where the full array of lines is available. [http://www.hintmag.com/shoptart/shoptart_apr07.php Hint Mag - Different Strokes]
*21-21 Design Sight (a play on 20/20 vision) is a museum-style research center for design, constructed by Tadao Ando, that was opened in Roppongi, Tokyo in March 2007. The center is headed by Issey Miyake and four other Japanese designers, and operated by "The Miyake Issey Foundation". [http://www.2121designsight.jp/designsight/directors-e.html 21_21 - The directors] [http://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/english/home/news_20050714.html Mitsui Fudosan - "21/21 Design Sight" to be established]
*The Miyake Issey Foundation, founded in Tokyo in 2004, operates the "21_21 Design Sight" center, organizes exhibitions and events, and publishes literature.

Perfumes

Like many fashion designers, Issey Miyake also has a line of perfumes. His first fragrance, the light aquatic-floral L'eau d'Issey for women, was launched in 1992. The name L'eau d'Issey (engl.: Issey's water) is a pun. In French, it sounds identical to "l'odyssée" (engl. odyssey).

The scent was followed by L'eau d'Issey Pour Homme (for men) in 1994. L'eau Bleue d'Issey Pour Homme was introduced in 2004; however, it was recently discontinued due to low sales. A new Issey Miyake men's fragrance, L'eau d'Issey Pour Homme Intense, was introduced at Nordstrom in the United States in June 2007, with a larger worldwide rollout following in September 2007. Issey Miyake fragrances are produced under a long-term agreement by the Beauté Prestige International division of Shiseido, who also produces fragrances for Narciso Rodriguez and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Awards

*Miyake won the Arts and Philosophy Kyoto Prize in 2006. [http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070311/news_mz1c11issey.html The San Diego Union Tribune - Intelligent Design]
*In 2005, he was awarded the Praemium Imperiale for Sculpture.

References

External links

* [http://www.isseymiyake.com/ Issey Miyake - official website]
* [http://www.tribecaisseymiyake.com Issey Miyake TribeCa store web site]
* [http://www.pleatsplease.com Pleats Please Issey Miyake web site]
* [https://pleatspleaseshop.com Pleats Please online store by Issey Miyake USA Corp.]
* [http://www.isseymiyake.co.jp/ELTTOB_TEP/en/ ELTOTOB TEP Issey Miyake web site]
* [http://www.isseymiyake-watch.com/ Issey Miyake Watches web site]
* [http://www.isseymiyakeparfums.com/ Issey Miyake Parfums web site]
* [http://www.2121designsight.jp/index-e.html 21_21 Design Sight web site]
* [http://www.fondation.cartier.fr Issey Miyake at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain (Paris)]
* [http://www.fashionvue.com/directory/miyake.htm Miyake Bio]
* [http://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/absolutenm/templates/ArtTempExhibitions.aspx?articleid=302&zoneid=78 Exhibition including Miyake's work at the Cincinnati Art Museum]
* [http://www.adcglobal.org/archive/hof/2006/?id=2 Art Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4_mK9CebB4 Issey Miyaje a-poc inside animation video on YouTube]