Taschen publishes an Issey Miyake bible

By

Chenu Alexis

Published
Mar 9, 2016

The month of March is a celebration of Japanese designer Issey Miyake. In parallel with the exhibition 'The Work of Miyake Issey', running from 16th March to 13th June at the National Centre for Arts in Tokyo, German publisher Taschen has published a monograph tracing the designer's career, from the early 1960s to today.

Simply called 'Issey Miyake', the work retraces the major steps and design creations by the designer, resting on the concept of 'A Piece of Cloth': from the Body Series line of the 1980s to the Miyake Pleats collection and other practical creations such as 'Pleats Please', conceived as everyday wear.

The book's text was written by Kazuko Koike and is complemented by superb photographs by Yuriko Takagi, a friend and contemporary of Miyake, among them some pictures taken during a photo-shoot in Iceland and in the water.

Kazuko Koike is a major figure in Japanese fashion and design, the director of the 'Laboratory of Superior Items for Living', founder of the Sagacho exhibition venue in Tokyo, and the author of a first book on the designer published in 1978, 'Issey Miyake, East Meets West'. In this latest book Koike provides a detailed chronology of Miyake's work and an unprecedented personal portrait.

The 512 page-book from Taschen is available in Japanese and English and is priced at €49.99.