Remembering Japanese Fashion Designer Issey Miyake & His Achievements in Fashion

August 10, 2022

Dom Challis

Renowned for being the first to produce clothing that never creases and producing the turtleneck sweaters for Steve Job’s trademark look – we remember the late Issey Miyake and his achievements.

The Japanese fashion designer who maintained a 52-year long career within the fashion industry, sadly died of liver cancer in a hospital in Tokyo at the age of 84 on 5 August.

The Issey Miyake Group released a short statement: “Miyake’s dynamic spirit was driven by a relentless curiosity and desire to convey joy through the medium of design.”

Miyake was interested in the overlap between art, design, and fashion. He always pushed for sustainability within fashion and maintained an “anti-trend” stance, while he referred to his designs as “clothing” instead of “fashion.”

Issey Miyake’s notable work & achievements:

After studying graphic design at the Tama Art University in Tokyo, Miyake made a switch to fashion and moved to Paris where he began working for Hubert de Givenchy – the same time Audrey Hepburn was wearing his dresses.
He established the Miyake Design Studio in 1970 and displayed his first wearable collection in New York in 1971.
Miyake designed the polyester-cotton mock turtlenecks that became a famous look for Steve Jobs. It’s believed that Miyake produced 100 turtlenecks at less than $200 each.
His most famous and affordable clothing – the Pleats Please line, was launched in 1993 as a response to the price and unwearability of high-end fashion.
The Pleats Please Line featured capes and trousers made from heat-treated polyester to create permanent pleats – resulting in the clothes never creasing, could be machine washed and could also be rolled instead of folded.
The Pleats Please line was one of the best first examples of gender-free clothing and still receives hundreds from resale sites.
In the late 90s, Miyake came up with the idea “One Piece of Cloth” as a technological solution to the overproduction problem which plagues us today. Later known as A-POC, this solution pioneered the idea of crafting clothes out of a single tube of fabric, cutting down on a lot of waste.

Issey Miyake spent over 50 years trying to change the way we view and receive fashion and the way fashion is crafted, hoping for a much more sustainable and less trend focused future of fashion.

A futuristic designer who was ahead of his time, Issey Miyake left a legacy within the world of fashion we may not see for a very long time.

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