Issey Miyake Issey Miyake Dies at 84 | Legendary Japanese Designer Famous for Wrinkle-Free Clothes, Steve Jobs' Signature Black Top

Issey Miyake Issey Miyake Dies at 84 | Legendary Japanese Designer Famous for Wrinkle-Free Clothes, Steve Jobs’ Signature Black Top

Legendary Japanese designer Issey Miyake died of liver cancer on August 5 at the age of 84. Issey Miyake was born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1938. He established his personal brand ISSEY MIYAKE in 1971, and is best known for his “Miyake ruffle” design, which does not wrinkle clothing.

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Issey Miyake graduated from Tama Art University, then went to France to study traditional haute couture techniques and design, also worked with Hubert de Givenchy, and then lived for a while in New York. Returning to Tokyo in 1970, he also launched his own brand of the same name, ISSEY MIYAKE. The brand was established for a short time. It participated in the Paris Fashion Week for the first time in 1973. In the 1980s, it had already occupied an important seat in the European design market with popular Japanese designers such as Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto.

Issey Miyake Issey Miyake Dies at 84 | Legendary Japanese Designer Famous for Wrinkle-Free Clothes, Steve Jobs' Signature Black Top — （Getty Images）

Issey Miyake’s design focuses on the fabric itself. He is famous for his “A Piece of Cloth”, which uses a piece of cloth to complete a complete garment. This A-POC series became a fashion story in the 1990s. In addition, the “Pleats Please” series, which was born in 1989, starts from the fabric yarn, to the sewing and pleating of the fabric, all steps are made in one process. This technique was later known as “Miyake pleats” or “Lifetime pleats”, and the garments produced were advertised as light, wrinkle-free, washable and portable, and became a must-have fashion item for many fashion fans.

“Apple leader” Steve Jobs, who is not only a good friend of Issey Miyake, but also a supporter of Miyake, the black turtleneck shirt he wears is from his handwriting.

In 2009, Issey Miyake was moved by an anti-nuclear speech delivered by former U.S. President Barack Obama, who published an editorial in the New York Times, expressing his personal experience of that year.

“When I close my eyes, I can still see that picture that no one should have to go through.”

After experiencing this Hiroshima incident, he will choose to “create” rather than “destroy”, and it is to bring beauty and joy. And this is one of the reasons why he chooses fashion, because fashion can be created in a modern and optimistic way.

Issey Miyake was later awarded the Order of Culture in 2010, and in 2016 held a large-scale solo exhibition at the National Art Museum of Art in Roppongi, Tokyo.