He is one of the great names in fashion and one of the first Japanese to have shown in Paris... Meet Issey Miyake.
His style is recognizable with his taste for bright colors and pleated fabrics.
Born in 1938 in Hiroshima, the 7-year-old boy survived the first atomic bomb dropped by the United States on August 6, 1945.
His mother, seriously exposed to radiation, died 3 years later.
At the age of 10, doctors diagnosed him with a serious bone disease.
But his perpetual optimism will characterize him throughout his career.
After graduating from Tama University of Fine Arts (Tokyo), Issey Miyake moved to Paris in 1965.
He worked for big names: Guy Laroche, Hubert de Givenchy.
He then created his fashion house in Japan in 1971.
But it is really in the 1980s that Miyake acquires a worldwide fame thanks to his creations composed of materials unseen until then in the field of fashion (plastic, wire, paper).
He's inspired by origami, the Japanese art of folding.
He defined himself as a "clothing manufacturer" rather than a fashion designer, he advocated the practical functionality of clothing that they wanted to be comfortable, resistant, easy to care for, universal and popular.
Finally, his creations mixed both minimalism and originality.
This fashion revolutionary announced his announced his retirement in 1997.
Issey Miyake died on August 5, 2022 at the age of 84, from cancer according to local media.
