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Issey Miyake (1938) and Irving Penn

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The first time i encountered the name of Issei Miyake was when an exhibition in the Nederlands Kostuummuseum was organized by curator Ietse Mey. The pleated fabrics by Miyake impressed and on a later occasion at the Groninger Museum i became an admirer of his designs.

Miyake has not become a mainstream designer and his designs are to complex to be worn in daily life, but he is important and he developed under his own brand name “l’Eau d’Issey” a range of balms and aftershaves which have become highly successful and made him a wealthy man. One publication must be discussed in this blog, because it is one of the best fashion photo books ever and its printing is outstanding and probably the reason why this is such a beautiful book. The fashion designs “shine” and look to float on the white blank pages. The photography is by Irving Penn, who made this the ultimate Issey Miyake book. Highly recommended and available at www.ftn-books.com

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Hussein Chalayan

In the 90’s several exhibitions were held in the Gemeentemuseum with some fashion items by Issey Miyake, but after these exhibitions there was a period without any real fashion talents. Exhibitions were held with new aspiring fashion designers but none had the original quality of Miyake until………there was Hussein Chalayan, but this time in a different location..the Groninger Museum.

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For me, suddenly he was there and the Groninger Museum made a wonderful exhibition with his designs. I do not follow fashion very much, but for me Chalayan combined fashion with Modern Art and sculpture and the setting in the Groninger Museum ( Mendini architecture) made it very special. According to Vogue he now makes HIGH TECH dresses. His approach to fashion has stayed the same. Explore the boundaries of fashion, ,wearability is of less importance, but originality is what he is looking for ….and finds.

The article on Chalayan in Vogue can be found here:

http://www.vogue.com/13431267/met-gala-chalayan-erika-wall-morgane-dubled/

Publications on this fascinating fashion designer are rare but www.ftn-books.com has some nice ones.