Issey Miyake, the Japanese fashion and fragrance giant, dies aged 84

By Julia Wray | Published: 9-Aug-2022

Miyake, well known for his pleated-style clothing, launched his first fragrance, L’Eau d’Issey, in 1992

Issey Miyake, the Japanese fashion designer famed for his pleated-style clothing, has passed away aged 84.

Miyake, who studied graphic design in Tokyo before moving to Paris then New York to pursue clothing design, founded the Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo in 1970.

In the fashion industry, he was best known for a pleating technique developed in the late 1980s which involved wrapping fabrics between layers of paper and putting them into a heat press.

It lead to the development of his signature Pleats, Please line.

Miyake launched his first fragrance, L’Eau d’Issey, in 1992, in cooperation with BPI (France): an aquatic, floral fragrance representing the scent of water on a woman’s skin.

Most recently, the brand, which forms part of Shiseido’s fragrance portfolio, continued the L’Eau d’Issey story with its a drop d’Issey line.

Inspired by the shape of a water drop and developed to be as environmentally-friendly as possible, the line launched in April 2021 and this summer expanded to include a ‘fraîche’ flanker.

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