Japanese designer Issey Miyake, famous for his pleated style of clothing that never creased and who produced Apple Inc founder Steve Jobs’ signature black turtleneck sweater, has died.
Born in Hiroshima, Miyake was seven years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city while he was in a classroom.
He began his fashion career in the late 1960s, working with couturiers such as Hubert de Givenchy and Guy Laroche, and his name quickly became synonymous with Japan’s business and fashion prowess in the 1980s.
His pleated designs have been loved by celebrities like Doja Cat, Celine Dion and Solange Knowles.
Meanwhile, he rose to fame after designing a uniform-like wardrobe of black turtlenecks for Jobs. In his biography of Jobs, Walter Issacson quoted Jobs as saying, “I asked Issey to make me some of his black turtleneck sweaters that I liked, and he made me like a hundred of them.” I have enough for the rest of my life.”
The designer died of liver cancer on Aug. 5 at the age of 84, Kyodo News Agency said. Further details were not initially available.
Japanese designer Issey Miyake, famous for his pleated style of clothing that never creased and who produced Apple Inc founder Steve Jobs’ signature black turtleneck sweater, has died
In 2009, he wrote in the New York Times, as part of a campaign to persuade then-US President Barack Obama to visit the city, that he did not want to be called “the designer who survived the Hiroshima bombing”.
He was reluctant to speak of the event in later life.
“When I close my eyes I still see things no one should ever experience,” he wrote, adding that his mother died within three years of exposure to radiation.
“I have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to put them behind me, preferring to think of things that can be created and not destroyed, and that bring beauty and joy.
Meanwhile, his pleated designs have been loved by celebrities, including Doja Cat (left, in May 2021), Celine Dion (right, in 2019), and Solange Knowles
“I was drawn to the field of clothing design, also because it is a creative format that is modern and optimistic.”
His mother died of radiation exposure three years after the bombing.
Known for his practicality, Miyake is said to have wanted to be either a dancer or an athlete before reading his sister’s fashion magazines inspired him to change directions.
These primal interests are believed to be behind the freedom of movement his clothing allows.
Meanwhile, he rose to fame after designing a uniform-like wardrobe of black turtlenecks for Jobs (pictured).
After studying graphic design at an art university in Tokyo, he studied clothing design in Paris, where he worked with famous fashion designers Guy Laroche and Hubert de Givenchy.
He then traveled to New York. In 1970 he returned to Tokyo and founded the Miyake Design Studio.
In his Jobs biography, Walter Issacson describes the origins of the designer friendship that led to the Apple CEO’s self-proclaimed uniform.
Mr. Isaacson was shown stacks of turtleneck sweaters in Jobs’ closet. ‘This is what I wear… I’ve got enough for the rest of my life.’
Other stars wearing the Japanese designer’s creations include Beyonce’s sister, Solange Knowles (pictured 2014)
In the late 1980s he developed a new way of folding, wrapping fabrics between layers of paper and placing them in a heat press, with the garments retaining their pleated shape.
Tested on dancers for freedom of movement, this led to the development of his signature “Pleats, Please” line.
Eventually he developed more than a dozen clothing lines ranging from his main Issey Miyake line for men and women to bags, watches and fragrances before essentially retiring in 1997 to pursue research.
When asked in 2016 what he thought the challenges for future designers were, he told the Guardian newspaper that people were likely to consume less.
“We may have to go through a thinning process. That’s important,” he was quoted as saying.
“In Paris we call the people who make clothes couturiers – they design new clothes – but actually the work of designing is to make something that works in real life.”
In 2009, he wrote in the New York Times, as part of a campaign to persuade then-US President Barack Obama to visit the city, that he did not want to be called “the designer who survived the Hiroshima bombing”.
When asked in 2016 what he thought the challenges for future designers were, he told the Guardian newspaper that people were likely to consume less