Issey Miyake (Japanese, 1938-2022) is memorialized for groundbreaking technological innovations in contemporary fashion, rooted in traditional craft, and creating a wearable avant-garde in pursuit of the modern. Miyake gained experience in the American ready-to-wear industry in the 1960s, but returned to Japan where he embraced and created the rising momentum of Japanese fashion globally. He began showing in Paris in 1973, among the earliest of the Japanese avant-gardists to break into the European fashion establishment. By the 1980s, Miyake’s name became synonymous with innovation and freedom, establishing proprietary fabrications and construction techniques, including heat-set micropleats and garments created from A Piece of Cloth (APOC). The designer created an ethos over six decades, which situated fashion within an integrated schema of design, “a wearable operating system, built to sit between the body and the wider world.” 

This auction includes early pieces that embody Issey Miyake's philosophy: androgyny in the form of wide-fitting jumpsuits, technological innovation in multidirectional micro pleats, and the primordial simplicity of clothing made from a single piece of cloth. Delicate but never fussy, constructed but not constricting, these early garments establish a precedent for an expanded vocabulary of fashion in Miyake’s own visual language.

This lot includes two two-piece skirt ensembles.

THE FIRST
Blue polyester pleated sleeveless top with ruffled collar and cascading center front ruffle with front button closure; paired with matching pleated maxi skirt with elastic waist band.
Label: Issey Miyake
Size Label: Top, 2/ Skirt, 4
Style/Serial No.: IM40-FJ84

Approximate Measurements:
TOP
Shoulders: 16.5"
Chest: 36.5"
Waist: 34"
Hips: 31.25"
Length (high shoulder point to hem): 23.25"

SKIRT
Waist: 26.75"
Hips: 29"
Length (side waist band to hem): 36"

THE SECOND
Black polyester pleated wrap top with set in long sleeves and off center front and back bottom tie; paired with a green pleated maxi skirt with eyelet cut outs and elastic waist band.
Label: Issey Miyake
Size Label: Top, 4/ Skirt, M
Style/Serial No.: Top, PP56-J0104/ Skirt, IM08-FG913

Approximate Measurements:
TOP
Shoulders: 16"
Chest: 28.5"
Waist: 27.75"
Hips: 27.5"
Length (high shoulder point to hem): 23"
Sleeve (center back neck to hem): 31.25"

SKIRT
Waist: 25.75"
Hips: 33.5"
Length (side waist band to hem): 37.5"