Issey Miyake was inspired by Henri Rousseau's The Dream:
to create "Rhythm Pleats".
In 1988 there was an exhibition, ISSEY MIYAKE A-UN, at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris which focused on Miyake's pursuit of cutting edge technology and traditional Japanese techniques in cloth and clothing.
After this exhibition Miyake experimented with pleating fabric by sandwiching it between two layers of washi paper and heating it. He continued experimenting and improving the pleats. He developed a technique called 'the twist'. Two or three people held the ends of the fabric, it was pulled tight and then twisted and then tied with a string and then heated. In 1993 the line PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE debuted. PLEATS PLEASE was a dream of Miyake to create an industrial product for everyday clothing.
What I think is really fascinating is how much creativity and handcraft went into the creation of an 'industrial product'.
I believe that this really fabulous Issey Miyake pleated coat dates from between 1989 and before the debut of Pleats Please in 1993. It fits like a cardigan with a softly draped shawl collar
but then on the back of this industrially made jacket is the work of a "couturier" (I know it is a title Miyake rebelled against in the 1960s after assisting at Guy Laroche and Givenchy) but it is the detail of slicing open the back and stitching it by hand leaving open space that makes it very couture - not to mention, A Dream.
Issey Miyake's Rhythm Pleats. The Dream.
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