Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake is one of the top Fashion designers to come from Japan his designs are technical and expressive and he is known for pushing the boundaries of fashion and doesn't get limited by current trends and traditional rules. He originally studied Graphics at Tama Art University but he knew he wanted to study fashion so he went to Paris were he ended up learning from talented designers Guy Laroche and Hubert de Givenchy. He went on to open his own design studio where he began to research alternative fabric and design techniques this sense of exploration is what makes Miyake one of the top designers for his innovative ideas.

He is known famously for his innovative use of pleats in designs, making sure there technically perfect in measurement so there aesthetically pleasing . He designed pleated jacked for the Lithuanian Olympic team in the 1992 Olympics and then went on to design his "Pleats please" Spring/Summer collection in 1994.This collections designs where pretty basic he used a polyester jersey fabric for all of the designs and just created basic tops jumpers and cardigans in a wide range of vibrant colours. He wanted to create a line suitable for modern living which he accomplished with the Pleats Please collection as the garments travel well, don't require ironing and are able to be machine washed and dried in a short amount of time making them practical for people who have busy lives. As his fashion line developed the use of pleats in his designs flourished  as he went on to design catwalk pieces that hung delicately floating off the models Miyake wanted to focus on the space between the model and the fabric and how it moved with the model. 

In 2010 Miyake and his team "reality lab" created a collection based on origami, the art of paper folding, which is often associated with Japanese culture. The collection was called 132 5 with each number having a meaning: 1 meaning the single peice of fabric used, 3 meaning the fact that its 3D shape, 2 meaning that it can be folded in to a 2D/flat  and 5 meaning that each garment has a variety of different way the garment can be manipulated to changing the look. Miyake took a modern look on Japanese fashion by taking a traditional Japanese technique and using the idea to create a collection showing that he inst constrained by current trends and fashion rules. His work ethic is inspiring as he is constantly looking at new ways to transform and evolve the way people look at fashion but still keeping hints of traditional Japanese element just like how Japan as a country as technology  advance but still has places where people live in harmony of the traditional values of Japan and places of historical importance. “With the future as his guide and nature his inspiration, the path-breaking Japanese designer has created clothing with enduring, global appeal.” { http://mds.isseymiyake.com/im/en/work/ }1999 Time feature on the “Most Influential Asians of the 20th Century” (August 23-30 issue);