Sandra‘s Closet

When Gabrielle Chanel adopted tweed as her own, it was to gift its comfort to elegant, sporty and resolutely modern women. When Patrice Leguéreau, Director of the CHANEL Fine Jewelry Creation Studio, took his inspiration from it in 2020, it was to create the first High Jewelry collection dedicated to tweed, with as its central masterpiece the « Tweed Couture » necklace.

Positioning the elements of the strands of the « TWEED COUTURE » Patrimony necklace on the sheet before setting.

Re-created today, this technical and aesthetic tour de force now forms part of the CHANEL High Jewelry Patrimoine. And it assures tweed a definitive place among the major inspirations of the CHANEL Fine Jewelry Creation Studio.

Assembly of the « TWEED COUTURE » Patrimony necklace.

Taming tweed. Transforming its softness, reinterpreting its weave and the irregularities that deepen its fleecy qualities, and mastering its suppleness in gold, pearls and gemtones. This is the dream that is realized in the « Tweed Couture » necklace. Unfolding in a host of radiating lines of varying lengths, it evokes a dense yet astonishingly light weave, created through a number of innovative processes.

Threading the chain that creates the horizontal weave of the tweed through the strands. First mounting of the chain before dismantling it for setting of the « TWEED COUTURE » Patrimony necklace.

The first of these is the articulation of rose gold and platinum threads to create minuscule hinges, rings and joints that infuse the whole structure of the necklace with suppleness. They are complemented by settings of equal lightness, in which each stone appears to be freed from claws or beads, to be fully revealed in the light.

Assembly of the « TWEED COUTURE » Patrimony necklace.

Rows of infinitely delicate pink sapphires, intense and crystalline red spinels, velvet-smooth pearls and diamonds of dazzling clarity weave the warp and weft of the tweed to re-create its downy thickness. A row of pearls, meanwhile, punctuated in the center by a 10.20 carat DIF type IIa cushion-cut diamond, delicately accentuates the base of the neck. Finally, the back of every element has been polished to ensure the necklace is as light and comfortable as tweed.

Adjustments of the center stone, a cushion-cut diamond of 10,20 carats of the « TWEED COUTURE » Patrimony necklace.

In its perfect embrace of the curve of the neck and its re-creation of the tweed weave, the « Tweed Couture » necklace elevates suppleness to the level of a creative principle, as exalted by the mastery and savoir-faire of the CHANEL Fine Jewelry Atelier. In its freedom and inventiveness, it celebrates the uncompromising boldness of Mademoiselle and takes its place in the CHANEL High Jewelry Patrimoine.

«The « Tweed Couture” necklace, which combines most of the technical challenges we had to face in 2020, was the most ambitious piece in this High Jewelry collection. For example, more than 980 articulations were assembled to create the exceptional suppleness of the necklace. That’s why today, CHANEL is proud to donate this exceptional piece to the Patrimoine department as a precious testimony of our creativity and savoir-faire.» – Patrice Leguéreau

Gabrielle Chanel and the tweed jacket of her English Duke lover changed fashion for ever. The fabric was also the inspiration for Virginie Viard’s F/W 2022 collection for CHANEL.

TWEED BY CHANEL

In the 1920s, Gabrielle Chanel had a love affair with the Duke of Westminster and discovered the lifestyle of the English aristocracy.
The Duke had an indisputable influence on the designs of Mademoiselle, who notably borrowed his tweed jackets to offer reinterpretations of them in her collections.
Tweed is a thick, soft woolen fabric that takes its name from the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders. While it has been part of the CHANEL vocabulary of style since the 1920s, it entered the Maison’s world of jewelry in 2020, with an initial collection of 45 High Jewelry pieces.

Work on « TWEED COUTURE » Patrimony necklace.

The most expensive piece in the 2020 collection, the « Tweed Couture » necklace has been reproduced for the occasion in order to join the pieces in the CHANEL High Jewelry Patrimoine department, such as the « 55.55 » necklace from the “N°5” High Jewelry Collection.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © CHANEL #TweedDeCHANEL #CHANELHighJewelry
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In her ateliers on rue Cambon, Gabrielle Chanel always kept two tools to hand: a pair of scissors suspended from a ribbon which she wore round her neck as a sautoir, and on her wrist the indispensable tool of any seamstress, a pincushion.

In 2023, Arnaud Chastaingt, Director of the CHANEL Watchmaking Creation Studio, has borrowed this tool to create the Mademoiselle Privé Pique-Aiguilles watch.

«I like the image of this functional piece of jewelry that adorns the wrists of seamstresses,» says Arnaud Chastaingt. This essential dressmaking accoutrement generally takes the form of a metal cuff topped with a generously sized dome-shaped cushion. On a technical level, it enables dressmakers to keep and organize their pins and needles where they can see them, to help them as they work. «I am fascinated by the design of objects whose architecture is the product of a practical need. In terms of style, the pincushion commands authority on the wrist, with presence and impact. Its outsize format does not detract from its comfort in any way, and it adapts to all wrists. I love the random design of needles on the surface of the cushion. Organized or disorganized, the pinheads pricked into the fabric dome create a decorative effect that evolves with the progress of the seamstress’s work. I have adopted the spirit of this tool to create a watch. While its architecture has the boldness of simplicity, its oversized dial flirts with excess and offers an incredible space for expression. I dreamed of this creation as a blank canvas for the most audacious Métiers d’art. I have imagined five tableaux for this collection: a lacework of camellias, a composition of iconic bags, jewels strewn on black tweed, a diamond embroidery, and a jacket at the pattern stage.»

Each of these pieces tell a story, a story unique to CHANEL, a story of Couture and of Haute Horlogerie to which only CHANEL possesses the secret.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © CHANEL #MademoisellePrivé #CHANELHauteHorlogerie
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A longstanding mainstay within the House’s collections, «The Jackie» experienced a well-chronicled rise to icon status—ever since its debut in 1961, the handbag’s perpetual presence on the arms of celebrated figures around the world crystallized its everlasting association with their signature sophistication. Jackie Kennedy was spotted in the ’70s carrying the G1244 bag by Gucci, that was the perfect accessory to match her iconic tortoiseshell glasses. Eventually, Gucci renamed the bag in her honour, dubbing the style the «Jackie» bag.

Today, Dakota Johnson finds herself at the latest inflection point of the line’s celebrated chronology in which a certain attitude encounters a certain era, marking the beginning of a new chapter through the House’s latest campaign. Johnson makes her way through everyday moments in Los Angeles with different versions of the Jackie 1961, each with its own personality, each perfectly paired to the occasion. The film and imagery, captured by Glen Luchford, pay homage to the style’s storied origins as spontaneous snapshots highlight the silhouette’s intrinsic versatility and enduring elegance, reflecting a state of co-existence that spans decades and personas.

The Jackie 1961
Following a distinguished line of reiterations, each emblematic of its time, today’s Jackie 1961 emerges to transcend the traditional with its sleek silhouette and universal attitude. The selection is presented in three different sizes—mini, small, and medium—in a wide range of colors that highlights the design’s inherent versatility. Clean lines bring the focus to the unique piston closure, as well as the quality of the material itself, whether natural grain, patent, or precious leather, or the emblematic GG Supreme canvas.

A beautiful new iteration: The Jackie 1961 crocheted raffia and leather shoulder bag

A longer, removable shoulder strap, either in leather or as a chain, enhances the Jackie 1961’s adaptable personality and practicality. Within each collection, the House introduces creative interpretations, including in woven raffia and straw as well as with velvet tapestry patterns for Cruise 2023.

My favorite this season: The Jackie 1961 small leather shoulder bag in green

The original model introduced in 1961 became expressive of the 1960s and 1970s jetsetter lifestyle for which Gucci was known and new sensibilities were brought to the signature style in 1999 and 2009, drawing from a contemporary intuition and attitude and ever- assuming new characters that defy definition – fitting seamlessly in any wardrobe.

TO SHOP THE GUCCI JACKIE 1961, CLICK HERE PLEASE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Gucci and Getty Images
Art Director: Christopher Simmonds Photographer & Director: Glen Luchford
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When the likes of Robert Pattinson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jonah Hill and Rihanna want to rock that fresh-off-the-building-site style, there’s only one traditional workwear brand they turn to – CARHARTT WIP.

CARHARTT WIP stands for Work In Progress and forms a division of the American brand Carhartt, one of the first companies to pioneer workwear in the USA. Established by Edwin Faeh in Europe in 1994, who became the exclusive distributor of Carhartt in Europe, it was over 100 years after Hamilton Carhartt had established his business in Detroit. CARHARTT WIP has been carefully adapting and modifying Carhartt’s core product characteristics for a different audience of consumers who value refined design and quality while still remaining true to Carhartt’s brand origins.

Since the beginning, CARHARTT WIP have built a strong, organic relationship with unknown, inspiring, provocative and upcoming figures in music and sport, becoming an iconic and well respected brand in underground scenes, from hip-hop to skate, from graffiti to cycling, as well as working with labels such as A.P.C., Neighborhood, Patta, Vans, Junya Watanabe and many more.

This season, the artistic, color-savvy world of MARNI meets CARHARTT WIP for the first time, offering an original wardrobe rooted in utilitarian silhouettes.
Founded also in 1994, MARNI is recognized as the most artistic, color-savvy, life embracing, off-beat brand in the luxury segment. Renowned for its subversive collections, MARNI has consistently challenged the traditional codes of fashion and the seriousness of dressing up, celebrating individuality through its distinctive approach to materials and colors, combined with a unique taste for prints and shapes.

Consisting of women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and accessories, the collection reinterprets Carhartt WIP’s signatures with a fresh gaze, lending workwear-inspired archetypes a new guise through MARNI’s unique flair for colors, prints and shapes.

MARNI x CARHARTT WIP introduces new material combinations, all-over prints and generous volumes, combining the substantiality of authentic utility wear with the light-hearted approach of MARNI. A two-tone clover print is applied to canvas Carhartt WIP archetypes such as the Active Jacket, as well as a short-sleeve work shirt, and a work pant offered in a loose silhouette. Bucket hats, chunky slip-on sneakers, and a robust canvas tote bag are also emblazoned with the same print. Meanwhile, jersey tops hybridize the shape of a tee with the iconic silhouette of a basketball tank top, and feature a bold iteration of Carhartt WIP’s «C» Logo.

MARNI + Carhartt WIP color-block shearling jacket

In addition, shearlings and soft calfskins add a tactile richness to typically rugged styles like the four-pocket Michigan Coat and Vest, while heart shaped gold-tone buttons offer an additional element of detail, referencing buttons that could be found on Carhartt products as far back as 1889. An interplay of corduroy and canvas appears on items including a car coat and overshirt, further elevated by MARNI’s signature flair for color, while pockets bear a co-branded motif that utilizes a unique single thread embroidery technique. Together, these styles deftly combine a sense of functional pragmatism with MARNI’s avant-garde codes.

The accompanying campaign stars the seminal funk artist Bootsy Collins – formerly of Parliament-Funkadelic – whose signature driving basslines helped propel the genre forward. He is joined by his wife Patti, his grandson Vincent and musician Babyxsosa in their Cincinatti home, in a series of images shot by Lengua, with styling by Haley Wollens. #funknotfight.

MARNI + Carhartt WIP floral-print cotton-canvas slip-on sneakers

MARNI and CARHARTT WIP will mark their collaboration with an in-store jam session at the Marni Montenapoleone flagship during Milan Fashion Week, kicking off Marni Jam, a multidisciplinary program that will further unfold globally.

TO SHOP MARNI x CARHARRT WIP, CLICK HERE PLEASE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Marni / Photographer / Videographer: Lengua – Models: Bootsy Collins, Patti, Vincent & Babyxsosa – Styling: Haley Wollens
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For F/W 2022, British designer Ian Griffiths, who joined Max Mara in 1987, seeked inspiration after seeing the major retrospective of the work of Sophie Taeuber-Arp at the Tate Modern in London. She was not only an artist, but also an architect, a dancer and a designer at the same time. During the turbulent early decades of the twentieth century, she met at Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, with fellow artists of the avant-garde including Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst and Guillaume Apollinaire night after night. Their performances, publications, recitals and readings produced an astonishing new aesthetic: Dada, a call for peace corresponding with the outbreak of World War I, which resonates with the times we are living in now.

Max Mara F/W 22

From the beginning, Max Mara’s ethos has been to turn ideas into garments that women will not only desire but want to live in: an all-round wardrobe for the modern, stylish yet elegant strong woman. Always respecting the philosophy and iconic elements of the brand, the colour camel, for example, Ian Griffiths is constantly looking for styles that show self-expression. Whimsy was the desired effect of the teddy bear material for F/W 2022, which the designer cut not just into oversized enveloping coats, but also full skirts both short and long, dresses and even sweatpants.

Personally speaking, I was immediately drawn to the Mito camel hair maxi dress, «the teddy dress». This long dress comes with fitted sleeveless bodice in double pure camel fabric, with a slightly low waist. The wide skirt is made of pure camel teddy fabric, with slant pockets on the sides. It is lined with monogram fabric and comes with a concealed back zip fastening. For me, a must-have for my museum. Stay tuned to see me wearing it very soon!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Max Mara and © Sandra Bauknecht
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Breaking news! Today, GUCCI announced that Alessandro Michele is exiting the House after nearly eight years with the brand. The Roman designer was hired by Tom Ford and worked than after Frida Giannini before taking over the helmet himself. With his maximalist vision, he changed the look of fashion and brought colorful looks to the runway. Unexpected color combinations, animals such as tigers, lions and bees were his favorites.

The Hacker Project, 2021

Michele had a flair for rule-breaking hookups. There was the F/W 2021 Hacker Project with Demna of Balenciaga, a Kering «colleague» and then a year later he collaborated with adidas collab. However, the brand was hit during corona and numbers haven’t been on the rise recently. GUCCI seems to suffer from brand fatigue.

Gucci x adidas, 2022

In a statement GUCCI CEO Marco Bizzarri said, «I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet Alessandro at the end of 2014, since then we have had the pleasure to work closely together as Gucci has charted its successful path over these last eight years. I would like to thank him for his 20 years of commitment to Gucci and for his vision, devotion, and unconditional love for this unique House during his tenure as Creative Director.»

S/S 2023 Welcome to Twinsburg show.

Alessandro Michele said: «There are times when paths part ways because of the different perspectives each one of us may have. Today an extraordinary journey ends for me, lasting more than twenty years, within a company to which I have tirelessly dedicated all my love and creative passion. During this long period Gucci has been my home, my adopted family. To this extended family, to all the individuals who have looked after and supported it, I send my most sincere thanks, my biggest and most heartfelt embrace. Together with them I have wished, dreamed, imagined. Without them, none of what I have built would have been possible. To them goes my most sincerest wish: may you continue to cultivate your dreams, the subtle and intangible matter that makes life worth living. May you continue to nourish yourselves with poetic and inclusive imagery, remaining faithful to your values. May you always live by your passions, propelled by the wind of freedom.»

Personally speaking, I felt that GUCCI has become kind of arrogant lately. Its loyalty towards people who have been supporting the brand since a very long time has kind of disappeared. Let’s hope that the there will be a new prosperity in all ways, also on a human level as I love the brand a lot!

Thank you, Alessandro, for all the magic!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / David Biedert Photography
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Tweed, the durable beautiful fabric, has been CHANEL‘s signature material for over a century years. In March at the Grand Palais Éphémère, CHANEL’s artistic director and designer Virginie Viard showed for F/W 2022 a ready-to-wear collection completely dedicated to tweed and CHANEL Makeup Creation Studio drew also inspiration from the emblematic fabric for its 2022 EYE MAKE-UP COLLECTION.

Anyone who is familiar with the French Maison knows that tweed has been synonymous with the brand ever since Coco Chanel rose to fame in the 1920s. Many do not know, however, how Coco Chanel’s affection for tweed started. While she was dating the Duke of Westminster, she realized the versatility and potential of the fabric with its flexible texture and irregular patterns, giving it its natural appearance. Being a true visionary, she partnered in 1924 with a Sottish factory to begin making her first tweed designs which ranged from jackets to sportswear.

A few years later, Chanel partnered with a French factory to create tweed that could incorporate different materials such as silk and cotton in order to give it a more elevated, high fashion look and feel. Chanel also began dying the material different colors to distinguish her tweed from the typical, classic hues. Until today, tweed is a source of infinite possibility and offers exceptional creative freedom for the House of CHANEL. It is produced each season in a variety of forms, colors, and styles.

For the new EYE MAKE-UP COLLECTION, called LES 4 OMBRES TWEED, the essence of the emblematic fabric has once again been reinterpreted, now taking the form of limited-edition LES 4 OMBRES eyeshadows. First created in 1982, this eye quad has also become a CHANEL makeup staple.

DRESS YOUR EYES IN TWEED
For this new collection, four exclusive creations were designed with a tweed pattern embossed on the surface of each shade. The four-color harmonies capture the creative worth of the fabric. Just as different fibers are intertwined to form tweed, the shades can be blended, and their intensity varied, to achieve chic and bold makeup results. The eyeshadows are as effortless to apply as a tweed garment is to wear.

For this special occasion, the compacts are paired with tweed pouches crafted by Maison Lesage, which is part of CHANEL’s Métiers d’art since 2002. Each of the four harmonies features a unique color palette and suits all skin tones. These versatile eyeshadows work in synergy to create a wide range of looks, from simple and natural to sophisticated.

TWEED FAUVE
The first harmony, entitled Tweed Fauve, is composed of radiant hues that bring warmth to the eyes. A combination of powerful colors between earth and fire, which combines a fiery brick orange with the depth of an intense aubergine brown, illuminated by the subtle shine of a satin coral and the reflections of an amber gold.

TWEED CUIVRÉ
The second, Tweed Cuivré, makes them shine with golden shimmer. An elegant accord that evokes the richness and brilliance of the precious metals dear to Gabrielle Chanel.

TWEED POURPRE
Tweed Pourpre combines pinks and mauves to offer a satiny and iridescent make-up look. A harmony that oscillates between softness and audacity. Tweed Pourpre brings together pinks and mauves while offering a satin and iridescent finish.

TWEED BRUN ET ROSE
Four natural brown and beige tones represent the final creation, Tweed Brun et Rose. It is embodied by four eyeshadows in natural colors with shades of brown and beige. I am wearing it in the picture above.

STYLO YEUX WATERPROOF
To complement these color harmonies, two new shades of STYLO YEUX WATERPROOF have been created—one, Cuivre Doré, to illuminate the eyes, the other, Bois Noir, for added intensity.

This extremely beautiful eye make-up collection is in stores now.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © CHANEL and © Sandra Bauknecht / Nadia Krawiecka
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Origins, travel, experience. And the certainty that a suitcase is not just a container. From the culture of travel that forms the history of the brand comes the new Gucci Valigeria campaign, featuring actor, screenwriter, director, and musician Ryan Gosling.

Creative Director Alessandro Michele, through the lens of photographer Glen Luchford, upends a typical sense of narrative and sets the campaign in a dreamlike dimension that goes beyond the boundaries that separate it from reality to recount a present built on the possibilities of the imagination and of an encounter.

The Gucci Savoy collection is the narrative result of a story that takes flight from the typical splendors of travel to confer the value of memory to the origins of a brand that was created from an intuition and from the observation of potentialities, precisely thanks to travel, developing discoveries of worlds and of diverse cultural manners.

«Travel for Gucci was never purely physical. Gucci is the brand that accompanied the artists, writers, actors, and directors of Hollywood on their journeys… This is why I wanted the advertising campaign to recount a situationist dimension where the protagonist traverses a “non-place” that is first and foremost a mental place, the same as those who, in the past and present, choose Gucci because they grasp the significance of creativity used to build imaginary places. And it is for this reason that a Gucci suitcase appears as a magical suitcase,» says Creative Director Alessandro Michele.

It is precisely in travel that the heritage of Gucci finds its origins. Founded in Florence in 1921 by Guccio Gucci, who more than twenty years prior when he was just 17, emigrates to Paris and then to London. The young Florentine works first as a porter at The Savoy in London, the go-to destination for international travelers. The very young Guccio Gucci comes into contact with the magic of travel that, at the time, was synonymous with discovery, discussion, study, and a bridge between diverse cultures. It was a time in which traveling signified experience, displacing the certainties of one’s social environment, a pursuit of the unexpected, of a will to encounter and to know. The return to Florence can’t but remember that observed and studied reality, assimilated and ready to be transferred into the practice of work. Guccio Gucci will do it with his first suitcases, trunks, bags, hat boxes. All the containers required to bring with oneself, on a journey, those necessities to represent oneself and one’s culture in an unknown and often foreign place.

In a narrative inversion that fills a stretch of space-time, the same containers appear as protagonists in the campaign, which presents the Gucci Savoy collection
including trolleys, hard and soft suitcases, duffle bags, trunks, hat boxes, and beauty cases. Objects that encapsulate experiences and desires that, in the images and video of the campaign, fill the bed of a polished pick-up truck in which the new collection lives side by side with historical pieces and that, in this plausible story of possibilities, are also repositories of dreams.

And it is this reality-adjacent dream that Ryan Gosling is living. At the end of a journey studded with arrivals and departures, he is introduced to surprising places through a trunk that becomes a gateway to fantastical worlds, which will turn out to be more real than any imagination could conceive. Because it leads to that reality of discovery that has always had the ability to build unexpected worlds.

The Gucci Savoy collection, which is part of the House’s wider Gucci Valigeria travel selection, is distinguished by a combination of heritage-infused design elements including the GG monogram and/or the Web stripe, offered in both soft and hard-sided iterations. The collection comprises items for every travel need, designed to be used now and for many years to come as classic and contemporary elements come together within a timeless aesthetic.

I will be going to Florence with Gucci in the beginning of October and cannot wait to explore everything where it all had started…

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Gucci #GucciValigeria
Creative Director: Alessandro Michele – Art Director: Christopher Simmonds – Photographer & Director: Glen Luchford – Make up: Thomas De Kluyver – Hair: Paul Hanlon / DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

«Barely there» creations are having a huge moment with celebrities flaunting those daring looks with great pleasure. French fashion brand Mugler features some great styles with one eye-popping dress that is in my opinion a must (at least I couldn’t resist). The statement look comes with a cleavage-framing, spliced halterneck and shoulder straps, a baring front, exposed back, and contouring low-slung ruched tulle mesh skirt.

It is available in different colors. However turquoise and pink are limited editions, only available at Mytheresa.

Late fashion designer (Manfred) Thierry Mugler first debuted this kind of look on the spring couture runway in the heady pre-Insta days of 1998. With the Y2K revival still being a major fashion trend, it seems obvious, that designer Casey Cadwallader, working for a revived house of Mugler, has made these ultra-revealing cutout creations a brand signature over the past seasons. The brand describes them as «trompe l’oeil fabrications that accentuate anatomical curves and erogenous zones with unprecedented ease». Inspired by Mugler’s couture pieces of the ’90s, the label’s dresses have proven particularly popular with celebrities like Megan Fox, Kim Kardashian, Dua Lipa, and Irina Shayk among many others.

It is barely there — but everywhere. If you’ve got it, flaunt it. As Mugler himself said in the 1994 fashion satire film Prêt-à-Porter: «It’s all about looking good, helping the silhouette. And it’s all about getting a great f**k, honey.»

Stay tuned for the detailed outfit post coming up shortly.

LoL, Sandra

Photos of me: @mykonos_alexandr / © Sandra Bauknecht, Others: Courtesy of Mugler
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ISSEY MIYAKE, Japanese fashion designer, died on Friday, August 5th, 2022, of liver cancer in Tokyo. He was 84. Miyake, whose name became a byword for Japan’s economic and fashion prowess in the 1980s, was best known for his innovative origami-like designs, the so-called «micro pleating», creating skirts, dresses and trousers with prisms of unfolding shapes, that have lately enjoyed a surge in popularity among a new and younger consumer base.

Kazunaru Miyake was born on April 22, 1938. He walked with a pronounced limp, the result of surviving the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, his hometown, on Aug. 6, 1945. His mother died three years later from radiation poisoning. He graduated in 1963 from Tama Art University in Tokyo, where he majored in design, followed by studies in Paris during the student protests of 1968, and a stint in New York.

ISSEY MIYAKE’s first collection was launched in New York in 1971, and began to be shown in Paris Fashion Week from F/W 1973.
From the very beginning to this day, Issey Miyake’s design has focused on the concept of «A Piece of Cloth». The Japanese designer broke the boundaries between East and West and pursued «the body, the fabric covering it and a comfortable relationship between the two» as a fundamental concept, both shocking and resonating with people the world over.

S/S 2022

ISSEY MIYAKE has grown to include a vast number of creative personnel and innovative new techniques, but its core design style – creating clothes from original materials starting with the research of a single thread – has transcended generations. The brand is led by designer Satoshi Kondo since S/S 2020, as it explores the relationship between the body and the clothes with creative ideas for modern women.

ISSEY MIYAKE’s second line Pleats Please is a collection of clothes that are a product in themselves, made with a unique «garment pleating» technique where the materials are developed from a single thread and pleats are added after sewing the clothes into shape. First launched in the ISSEY MIYAKE line in 1988, this pleats line grew until it finally became a brand of its own with the launch of the S/S 1994 collection.
These clothes combine functionality – they’re light and wrinkle-proof, they don’t need to be dry-cleaned, and they can be folded to a compact size for easy storage and carrying – with a versatility that makes them suitable for all settings in your daily life. Comfortable and beautiful too, these clothes have become deeply entrenched in the daily lives of modern women. This brand reflects Issey Miyake’s fundamental concept that «design is not for philosophy, but for life,» and continues to evolve today.

His proprietary heat treating system meant that the accordionlike pleats in his designs could be machine washed, would never lose their shape and offered the ease of loungewear. He also produced the black turtleneck that became part of the signature look of Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder.
His Bao Bao bag, made from mesh fabric layered with small colorful triangles of polyvinyl, has long been an accessory of choice for creative industries.

His designs found their way onto the 1982 cover of Artforum — unheard-of for a fashion designer at the time — and into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 2010, he received the Order of Culture, Japan’s highest honor for the arts.

«I don’t consider myself a fashion designer. Anything that’s ‘in fashion’ goes out of style too quickly. I don’t make fashion. I make clothes,» Miyake told the magazine ParisVoice in 1998.

«I am most interested in people and the human form,» Mr. Miyake told The Times in 2014. «Clothing is the closest thing to all humans.»

Rest in peace, Mr. Miyake! Your legacy will live on!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Issey Miyake
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