Issey Miyake, pleats in tune with the times

Issey Miyake did not invent pleats.

The Egyptian tunic, the Greek chiton, the ruff from the Wars of Religion, the Fortuny pleat at the very beginning of the 20th century and then that of Mme Grès have, well before hers, marked the history of costume and couture.

But he is the first to have moved it to the field of industrial design and to have translated it into a concept of easy, washable, universal clothing.

Issey Miyake, spring-summer 1995 fashion show ready to wear

The birth of

has been told many times.

"At the beginning of the 1990s, a French friend who had seen our first pleats, had noticed that they would be perfect for dancing, confided a few months ago to Figaro, Issey Miyake. I then asked William Forsythe and the dancers from the Frankfurt Ballet to test the pleats. The dancers of very different morphologies expressed themselves with pleasure and with such freedom of movement. This awakened in me the desire that everyone discover this sensation."

The "design object" is then omnipresent, in toothbrushes, household appliances, in trendy cafes and supermarkets.

Aware of discipline, the general public

Beyond the circle of fashionistas

Full screen

Issey Miyake spring-summer 1994 fashion show. Photo Philippe Brazil

Above all, women, well beyond the trendy circle, appropriate his models which glide over the body and bounce with each movement, which roll in a suitcase and come out without creases.

In France, the name of Miyake joins, thanks to Pleats Please and the perfume L'Eau d'Issey launched in 1992, the club of popular creators (Lacroix, Gaultier, Kenzo).

"I have a provincial fashion culture, explains Johanna Senyk, 35 and founder of Wanda Nylon. For a designer's reputation to reach as far as Tours, where I grew up, his pieces really had to be iconic. , whether for example he was the guest of the season at La Redoute! And often, that corresponded to a stereotype of women, we put designers in little boxes. For me,

, it was the Notable Wife Dress… And then, two years ago, my fiancé gave me one of these vintage pleated dresses, found at the Los Angeles store

.

A crazy piece, with almost clownish proportions, which I wear often and each time in a different way." More or less consciously, the said dress plunges it back into the pleats that will become one of the themes of its spring-summer. The technique at the same time artisanal and experimental has nothing to do with that in series (and also experimental) of the Japanese: here, the trousers tied at the ankle, the asymmetrical tops, the tube dresses are lined in places with tarlatan, cut directly by laser and with elastic bias. But there is something in the aesthetics, in the Wanda Nylon attitude, of terribly Miyake. As in the collections of Jil Sander, Marni, Paul Smith...

And why would it be surprising if designers reinterpreted this now classic?

Because since its heyday in the 1990s,

had remained the "uniform" of the first customers.

Who, since then, have aged.

Logically, the next generation saw in it an old-fashioned product and often, as Johanna Senyk's experience illustrates, the dress of a notable's wife or that of the architect with square glasses.

Those under 30-35 do not harbor the same prejudices.

Evidenced by the success in fast fashion brands, in recent months, shortened very "inspired" pleated pants.

A young girl aware of trends, met in the Paris metro, confides that she found hers at H&M: "I dreamed of

, but I couldn't afford it.

Obviously, this one is not of the same quality, and the pleating is already starting to fade!" she laughs.

Detail of the Issey Miyake Ready-to-Wear Fall-Winter 2017-2018 show

Issey Miyake Ready-to-Wear Fall-Winter 2017-2018 show Paris

In images, in pictures

See the slideshow58 photos

See the slideshow58 photos

In search of basics

I wanted to create a garment that makes people free and happy

Sold between 190 and 230 euros, the original (with shape memory regardless of the number of machine washes at 30°C!) has once again become a style statement spotted during the last Fashion Weeks.

If, in Paris, the two shops of the Japanese label still retain their followers, they have also been recruiting for a few months young women, French but especially foreign, in search of the most basic pieces, in black or white.

Same thing at matchesfashion.com: "We sell

for two years, and a little more each season, confirms Ruth Chapman, the founder and co-president of the British site.

These products are still aimed at an educated client who maintains a relationship with art and fashion." And at Galeries Lafayette, boulevard Haussmann, in Paris: "The current collections include new shapes and pretty prints.

There has been good progress since last month on the stand, and, in addition to the loyal clientele, a share of thirty-year-olds, mainly from Asia and the Middle East, indicates Pascale Camart, director of women's ready-to-wear purchasing.

Even in our teams, sharp young women have taken a new interest in this line from the Japanese, but above all through his iconic black three-hole dress." A design and cool must-have that resonates with the

"I designed

on the basis of technology and engineering, but at the same time I wanted to create a garment that makes people free and happy", says Issey Miyake today.

And when asked about the many pleats present on the catwalks, he replies, true to himself: "

is for everyone, it's my gift, my heritage. And if other designers s inspired by it, I feel honored and happy. That's a big compliment."

This article, originally published on May 11, 2017, has been updated