Styles · An idea under Avant-garde

Japanese design for women

Pleated cuts, deconstructed blazers, and sculptural shapes from Tokyo ateliers.

Japanese design here means clothes from Japanese designers built on pleats, loose volume and asymmetric cuts, in black, grey, taupe and purple. Issey Miyake, born in Hiroshima, founded the Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo in nineteen seventy. In the late eighties he began pleating clothes after they were cut and sewn, pressing them between sheets of paper in a heat press.

Pleats Please Issey Miyake, launched in nineteen ninety three, uses that method for women, and Homme Plisse Issey Miyake has done the same for men since twenty thirteen, with pieces the label calls wrinkle resistant, quick to dry and light. Undercover, the label of Jun Takahashi, first showed in Paris in two thousand two; Takahashi once sang in a Sex Pistols cover band. UJOH was started in two thousand nine by Mitsuru Nishizaki after seven years as a pattern cutter.

WDLT117 in Toronto brings Homme Plisse Issey Miyake pleated jackets, trousers and tops for men, and Pleats Please Issey Miyake cardigans and pullovers for women, along with UJOH and Undercover.

Common questions

What defines avant garde Japanese design?
Architectural volumes, deconstruction, and heat set pleats replace traditional form fitting contours. Designers construct loose silhouettes in rich wool, cotton, and silk.
How do you style architectural clothes from Tokyo?
Anchor voluminous pleated trousers with a tailored wool coat or a structured cotton shirt. Keep footwear clean and minimal so sculptural hemlines stand out.
Which designers make modern Japanese design?
Pleats Please Issey Miyake and Homme Plisse Issey Miyake carry on Issey Miyake's pleating, for women and for men. Undercover is the label of Jun Takahashi, and UJOH the label of Mitsuru Nishizaki, who began as a pattern cutter.