Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, whose career spanned more than half a century, died at the age of 84, announced to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Tuesday August 9 , an employee of his office in Tokyo. “He died on the evening of August 5”she said on the phone, adding that the funeral of Issey Miyake had already taken place in the presence “only relatives”, in accordance with his wishes. There are no plans for a public ceremony, said the same source, refusing to be named. Japan’s public television channel NHK also announced the death of the great fashion designer.
Born on April 22, 1938 in Hiroshima (western Japan), Issey Miyake was 7 years old on August 6, 1945, when the United States dropped the first atomic bomb in history on his hometown, killing 140,000 people and traumatizing the survivors for life. His mother died three years after the end of the Second World War as a result of the radiation caused by the atomic bomb. He himself endured great physical suffering which handicapped his walk. “When I close my eyes I still see things that no one should ever experience: a blinding red light, the black cloud shortly after, people running in all directions desperately trying to escape – I remember all that “he testified in 2009 to plead for nuclear disarmament.
For a long time, Issey Miyake had avoided talking about his experience as a survivor of Hiroshima, for fear of being labeled as such or appearing ” pathetic “.
“Clothing maker” rather than stylist
Barely graduated from the Tama University of Fine Arts in Tokyo, he moved to Paris in 1965 and studied at the School of the Parisian Couture Union Chamber. Issey Miyake was one of the first Japanese fashion designers to establish himself in the French capital after having worked for Guy Laroche and Givenchy. Preferring to define themselves as “clothing maker” rather than a stylist, he was part of the wave of young Japanese designers who brought a breath of fresh air to Parisian haute couture from the 1970s.
At the same time, he founded his design studio in Japan, and his first boutiques would open a few years later in Tokyo and Paris. From the 1980s, he spread his style around the world using materials never before seen in fashion (wire, Japanese craft paper, horsehair, etc.). He was known in particular for having made one-piece clothes and for his pleating technique.
With textile researchers and design engineers in his research and development laboratory, he has also created a synthetic fiber from recycled chemical material, in partnership with a Japanese firm.
Last June, a parade show of his brand was staged in Paris by Rachid Ouramdane, director of the National Theater of Chaillot, bringing together models, performers and a collective of acrobats.
