REALITY LAB. ISSEY MIYAKE

Issey Miyake (Born 22 April 1938 in Hiroshima, Japan - death 5 August 2022, Tokyo, Japan). As a seven-year-old, he witnessed and survived the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. He studied graphic design at the Tama Art University in Tokyo, graduating in 1964. After graduation, he worked in Paris and New York City. Returning to Tokyo in 1970, he found the Miyake Design Studio.

In the late '80s, he began to experiment with new methods of pleating that would allow both flexibilities of movement for the wearer as well as ease of care and production. This eventually resulted in a new technique called garment pleating and in 1993's Pleats Please in which the garments are cut and sewn first, then sandwiched between layers of paper and fed into a heat press, where they are pleated. The fabric's 'memory' holds the pleats and when the garments are liberated from their paper cocoon, they are ready to wear. He did the costume for Ballett Frankfurt with pleats in a piece named "the Loss of Small Detail" by William Forsythe and also work on the ballet "Garden in the setting".

He had a long friendship with Austrian-born pottery artist Dame Lucie Rie. She bequeathed to him her substantial collection of ceramic and porcelain buttons, which he integrated into his designs and presented in new collections.

In 1994 and 1999, Miyake turned over the design of the men's and women's collections respectively, to his associate, Naoki Takizawa, so that he could return to research full-time. In 2007, Naoki Takizawa opened his own brand, supported by the Issey Miyake Group and was replaced, as a Creative Director of the House of Issey Miyake, by Dai Fujiwara.

http://www.isseymiyake.com/

Tokujin Yoshioka, born in Saga, Japan in 1967. After he graduated Kuwasawa Design School in 1986, worked under Shiro Kuramata and Issey Miyake. He established his own studio, TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA INC. in 2000. His experimental and innovative creations, which transcend the boundaries of art, design, and architecture, are highly evaluated in the world. Including space design and installation for ISSEY MIYAKE, he designed SWAROVSKI's flagship store "SWAROVSKI GINZA". Also, he has collaborated with various leading companies such as Cartier, Hermès, LEXUS, TOYOTA, NTT, and other noted ones. 

Since the paper chair "Honey-pop"(2001) has attracted a great deal of public attention, Tokujin produced the chair made by baking fiber structure "PANE Chair - Baking A Bread Chair". Optical glass project started in 2002. Since then, "Water Block", "Chair Disappears in the Rain", the largest optical glass table "Waterfall" have received high acclaim in the world, and "Water Block" is permanently exhibited at Musee d'Orsay, Paris since 2011. He also designed product design such as YAMAGIWA’s lighting “ToFU”, cell phone "MEDIA SKIN" for au design project, and designed logo and packaging for re-branding of Japanese famous skin care bland FANCL. He was selected by the Japanese edition of Newsweek as one of the "100 most respected Japanese by the world", and some of his most important works are exhibited as a part of permanent collections in the world’s well-known museums such as Museum of Modern Art(MoMA) in New York, Centre National d’ Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Victoria and Albert Museum, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and Vitra Design Museum. 

He received prizes such as "Mainichi Design Award, 2001", "Cultural Affairs Section of Government of Japan, Encourage Prize, 2006", "Design Miami, Designer of the Year, 2007",  "Elle Deco International Design Awards (EDIDA)/ Designer of the Year 2009", "TOKYO Design & Art ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS /  Artist of the Year 2010", "A&W Architektur & Wohnen/Designer of the Year 2011", and "Maison & Objet/ Creator of the Year 2012".