Issey Miyake, Who Opened a Door for Japanese Fashion, Dies at 84
The first Japanese designer to show in Paris, he was known for his origami-like designs, creating pleated skirts, dresses and trousers that afforded freedom.
Issey Miyake, one of the first Japanese designers to show in Paris, whose pleated style of clothing allowed for freedom of movement and whose name became a global byword for cutting-edge fashion in the 1980s, died on Friday in Tokyo. He was 84.
His death, in a hospital, was announced on Tuesday by the Miyake Design Studio, which said the cause was liver cancer.
Mr. Miyake’s designs appeared everywhere, from morning to night, from factory floors — he designed a uniform for workers at the Japanese electronics giant Sony — to black tie dances.
His insistence that clothing was a form of design was considered avant-garde in the early years of his career, and he had notable collaborations with photographers and architects.
His designs found their way onto the 1982 cover of Artforum — unheard-of for a fashion designer at the time — and into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Mr. Miyake was feted in Japan for creating a global brand that contributed to the country’s efforts to build itself into an international destination for fashion and pop culture. In 2010, he received the Order of Culture, the country’s highest honor for the arts.
And as one of the first Japanese designers to show in Paris, he was part of a revolutionary wave of designers that brought Japanese fashion to the rest of the world, eventually opening the door for contemporaries like Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo.