Issey Miyake, the Japanese fashion designer, dies aged 84

Dedicated to democratising fashion, he brought new technologies into the industry

Issey Miyake in 2016. The designer is known for democratising fashion through simple construction, experimenting with different materials and treatments. EPA

Issey Miyake, third from right, with (from left) fashion designers Kenzo, Anne-Marie Beretta, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Chantal Thomass, Alix Gres, Yves Saint-Laurent, then French Minister of Culture Jack Lang, fashion designers Sonia Rykiel, Pierre Berge and Emanuel Ungaro, in 1984. AFP

Miyake in 1991 after presenting his spring/summer 1992 collection in Paris. The Japanese fashion designer has died aged 84. AFP

Miyake returns his models' applause in Paris at the end of his autumn/winter 1997-1998 ready-to-wear show. AFP

Models push fashion designer Naoki Takizawa up the catwalk at the end of the presentation of Issey Miyake's spring/summer 2000 ready-to-wear collection at Paris Fine arts school. AFP

Models present the Issey Miyake spring/summer 2001 ready-to-wear collection on October 9, 2000, in Paris. AFP

Japanese designer Naoki Takizawa after his spring/summer 2003 ready-to-wear show for Issey Miyake on October 3, 2002, in Paris. AFP

Miyake in 2007 with Sweden's Queen Silvia at the museum 21-21 Design Sight in Tokyo. AFP

Models present the spring/summer 2008 ready-to-wear collection by Dai Fujiwara for Issey Miyake during show in Paris on October 2, 2007. AFP

Models present creations by Japanese designer Issey Miyake during the spring/summer 2011 ready-to-wear collection show on October 1, 2010 in Paris. AFP

Models present creations by Issey Miyake during his spring/summer 2012 men's fashion show, on June 23, 2011 in Paris. AFP

Models present creations during the Issey Miyake menswear spring/summer 2023 show, as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 23, 2022. AFP

Issey Miyake's menswear spring/summer 2023 presentation at Pris Fashion Week on June 23, 2022. AFP

Issey Miyake, the Japanese designer who helped to revolutionise fashion through technology, has died aged 84, it has been reported.

The Kyodo news agency has reported the designer died of hepatocellular carcinoma on Friday, although it has only been announced now.

Born in Hiroshima on April 22, 1938, as a child he witnessed the nuclear bombing of the city by the US, an event that had a profound effect on his life and work.

Miyake studied graphic design at Tama Art University in Tokyo, and then moved to Paris to study at the prestigious Chambre syndicale de la couture Parisienne.

After stints working for Guy Laroche and Hubert de Givenchy in 1969 he moved again, to New York, where he became friends with artists such as Robert Rauschenberg.

In 1970, he returned to Tokyo and founded his own house, Miyake Design Studio.

Fascinated with the idea of democratising fashion through simple construction, he began experimenting with different materials and treatments, in a quest that continued for the rest of his life.

Inspired by the work of Vionnet — and more importantly, the use of pleating — Miyake became intrigued with how he could create simple, one-size clothing, that would expand or contract to fit any body shape. To this end, he experimented endlessly to find the best method, finally discovering that making the piece of clothing first, and then feeding the finished item through a heat press to create the pleats, created folds that were almost impossible to remove.

By 1988, pleated garments were the backbone of the Issey Miyake fashion label, and in 1994 were given their own brand, Pleats Please Issey Miyake.

His intellectual curiosity meant Miyake never stopped experimenting, and in 1999 he stepped back from his eponymous labels to concentrate on these studies.

Over the course of his career Miyake launched several projects that ranged from his main collection to Issey Miyake Fete, envisioned as a celebratory women’s line, in colourful, pleated designs and Pleats Please Issey Miyake.

In 1992, he launched his first perfume, the phenomenally successful L'Eau d'Issey.

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