The click-clack of the pleating machine and a drumbeat provided the soundtrack for Homme Plissé Issey Miyake’s Never Change, Ever Change AW21 video. A choreographed group came into formation. The models were as disciplined as soldiers but they weren’t in military uniform. Instead, they wore Plisse trousers, oversized shirts and concertina coats. Classic styles were transformed with technology and craft. They looked like an army of individuals.
What’s striking is how right these pleated clothes feel for now – the era of work from home. There are pieces made from 100% recycled polyester, pieces printed with African basket motifs or a mottled tweed effect and tailored pleats which bring a new meaning to suiting. Interspersed with the dancers were shots of the pleating machines and the black-clad technicians engaged in making Miyake’s signature garments.
The Miyake mission has always been to offer elegant solutions. There are so many difficulties and problems in our world, but our clothes shouldn’t be one of them. Comfort cannot and will not be denied. Yet this isn’t the ‘hate wear’ that feels like a form for sartorial deprivation. There’s something celebratory and eternally optimistic about Miyake’s clothes. Comfort means freedom. Ease, means being at ease with yourself.
Photography courtesy of Issey Miyake.
