Japanese designer Issey Miyake, known for his signature pleats and high-end fragrances, has died aged 84.
The designer, whose career spanned more than 50 years, passed away on Friday, August 5, from liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), Issey Miyake Group said in a statement.
Miyake founded Miyake Design Studio in 1970, with all of his designs firmly rooted in his concept of clothing made from “a piece of cloth.” He went on to be one of the first Japanese designers to showcase in Paris. Throughout his career, Miyake worked closely with his teams, creating new designs and supervising all collections under the various Issey Miyake labels. The designer opened his first store in Paris in 1975; the first fragrance, L’eau d’Issey, was launched in 1992; and the Pleats Please Issey Miyake line arrived in 1994. The Bao Bao handbags are popular today and sold in high-end department stores globally. The brand has 270 stores.
He received Japan’s Order of Culture in 2010 and was decorated by the French government as a Commandeur de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur (commander of the National Order of the Legion of Honour) in 2016.
“Very sad to hear the passing of the fantastic Issey Mikyake, a designer that changed fashion and someone I looked up to so much,” Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe and founder of JW Anderson, said in an Instagram post. “What he did for craft and technology changed the way we look at fashion.”
As per Miyake’s wishes, there will be no funeral or memorial service, the company said in a statement.
This article first appeared on Vogue Business.
