Pleats please by Issey Miyake was birthed in 1993, 2 years after the idea was percolating in Issey’s mind, famous for the unique garment pleating. The mission at hand was to spotlight the social dimensions of the clothes and to universalise them. Pleats Please are clothes intended to be valued for practicality but also the sheer beauty. Each garment is a work of art, constructed with dedicated craftmanship. During the time, women were emerging from the home to the business community, pleats please provided the consumers demands.
Wearing Issey Miyake is like wearing an experience. The multi pleated fabric takes on a life of its own transforming the silhouette of the wearer like an abstract expression. The folds and textures move effortlessly creating rhythm and fluidity reminiscent of a sculpture. Pleats please is more than fashion many view it as an art form.
Issey Miyake proffered the essence of design to 4 artists. Presented in 1977, Guest artist series no.2 featured a collaboration between Issey Miyake and Tokyo born artist Nobuyoshi Araki, renowned for his female nudes and bondage portraits that challenge boundaries, much the same as Issey himself. The endeavour consisted of two kinds: “Appear” in which Araki’s photographs were printed onto the fabric pre pleated and “Disappear” printed onto the pleated fabric. They cooperatively created moving canvases, fusing art, fashion and photography. Art reimagined through surreal images printed on shifting pleated surfaces.
The Pleats design came from a relatively architectural concept. the process entails “construction garments at two or three times their intended size, then precisely folding, ironing and lacing the sewn ensembles, sandwiched between paper, into a heat press”. This style of pleating and folding was popular within architecture in the 90s. this deign process is what ultimately elevates Miyake’s pleated inventions.
Issey Miyake revolutionised the amalgamation of fashion and art, through innovative techniques and creative functionality.
Scans and text inspired by Pleats Please by Issey Miyake published in 2012.