Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, whose global career spanned more than half a century, has died aged 84, an employee at his office in Tokyo told on Tuesday.
“He died on the evening of August 5,” she said over the telephone, without giving further details of his death and declining to be named.
Miyake’s funeral had already taken place, with “only relatives participating” in line with his wishes, and there were no plans for a public ceremony, she said.
Public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media reported the news of his passing, with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and other outlets saying he had died of liver cancer.
About Issey Miyake
Fashion innovator Issey Miyake shook up Parisian style with his highly wearable avant-garde designs, saying he was driven to create clothes that “bring beauty and joy” after witnessing the horrors of Hiroshima.
Alongside Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto, Miyake was part of a wave of young Japanese designers who made their mark in the French capital from the mid-1970s, following the lead of fashion greats Kenzo Takada and Hanae Mori.
Throughout his global career spanning more than half a century, he pioneered high-tech, comfortable clothing — side-stepping the grandiosity of haute couture in favour of what he called simply “making things”.
Among his inventions were the “Pleats Please” line, permanently pleated items which do not crease, refreshing an old-fashioned concept to exude fluidity and comfort.
The much-copied futuristic triangles of Miyake’s geometric “Bao Bao” bag complemented countless chic outfits, and he made more than 100 black turtlenecks for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Miyake also wowed runway audiences with his “A-POC (A Piece Of Cloth)” concept, using computer programming to cut whole garments with no seams.
“When I grow weary with where I’m going, or when I stumble, I’ll return to the theme of ‘A Piece of Cloth’,” Miyake said in 2006 after winning the prestigious Kyoto Prize.
“From ancient times, in Greece or Africa, every culture has started (making clothes) from a single piece of cloth, or skin,” he explained.
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