Rhythm Pleats
Miyake Issey is renowned for innovation in both textile and clothing design. His technological explorations into clothes-making and the resulting organic sculptural creations have left an indelible mark on the design industry. Miyake pioneered a pleating process by which a piece of polyester is cut and sewn in the shape of a given garment, then sandwiched and pleated between layers of paper and fed into a heat-press machine. The “memory” of the fabric holds the pleats and, when the paper is cut open, the finished garment is revealed. This technology, called “Garment Pleating,” is the foundation for the Pleats Please Issey Miyake line, and earlier variations in the process resulted in Rhythm Pleats, shown here. Miyake’s pleated garments often take on architectonic shapes when worn.
