Friday, May 14, 2010

Pleats Please!


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For Miyake, pleats were the result of his search for the functional garment, as well as his fascination with the surface of the material. Pleats Please represents Miyake’s most simple design. Light and washable, the look was ideal for the modern age. Pleats Please is now marketed throughout the world. The subsequent modifications of the process have combined practicality with contrant visual surprise. “Pleats move and change form with the wearer’s body movements. As the pleats move they change colours, giving an optical illusion like a kaleidoscope,” he explained, “Pleats contain endless fascination for me and also inspire a multitude of images.” Unlike the conventional method of pleating polyester with heat and then cutting the fabric to a design Miyake reversed the process by designing the shape first and pleating the finished form.(Tsurimoto, S., 1983)

The act of engagement was simply for woman to lift the cloth, find the space for her head and the holes for her arms, then allow her body to fill the space. Miyake refers to cloth that moves like a breeze. The body’s breath and movements inflate these simple, flattened shapes into fluid three-dimensions.(Holborn, M., 1995)


Holborn, M., 1995, Issey Miyake, Taschen, German, p.42,82,88.

Tsurimoto, S., 1983, Iseey Miyake body works, A perspective beyond form, Shongakukan, Tokyo. pp.32-54.

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