As the distinction between fashion, graphic design and art becomes ever more blurred, Issey Miyake’s latest collaborative offering revels in such indistinction. His new micro-collection is emblazoned with the graphic artwork of Ikko Tanaka, a keystone of 20th century Japanese art. Tanaka’s deceptively simple oeuvre uses block colours and overlaid geometric forms to explore the boundaries of abstraction and realistic portraiture. Once art, now clothing, Miyake revitalises Tanaka’s legacy in this new series of dresses, coats and bags.
Miyake and Tanaka were acquainted, and held each other’s work in high regard. They met in the sixties and maintained a close friendship until Tanaka’s death in 2002. Just over a decade after his passing, Miyake’s reinterpretation of his work is a timely homage, from one Japanese icon to another.
Tanaka’s tome Variations of Bold Symbols (1992) is a mosaic of colour blocks adorned with hand-drawn symbols. It vividly celebrates abstraction and eschews any recognisable human form. His work for the 200th anniversary of the artist Tōshūsai Sharaku’s birth, however, layers circular forms into the shape of a peeping face, a traditional form of portraiture known as Okubi-e for which Sharaku earned his fame. His most famous work, Nihon Buyo (1981), blends these two modes of creation, tessellating stark geometric shapes into the abstract form of a geisha.
While Tanaka’s designs are now most commonly reproduced on posters or in books on Japanese art, Miyake’s creations seek to recontextualise his work, introducing the dynamism of the body to the vitality of the artist’s aesthetic.
Once art, now clothing, Miyake revitalises Tanaka’s legacy in this new series of dresses, coats and bags
Miyake and Tanaka were acquainted and held each other’s work in high regard
Tanaka's tome, Variations of Bold Symbols (1992), offers a compilation of this graphic works, which directly inspired the collection
The pair met in the Sixties and maintained a close friendship until Tanaka’s death in 2002
Launching just over a decade after his passing, Miyake’s reinterpretation of his work is a timely homage, from one Japanese icon to another
Tanaka’s deceptively simple oeuvre uses block colours and overlaid geometric forms to explore the boundaries of abstraction and realistic portraiture
The book offers a mosaic of colour blocks adorned with hand-drawn symbols
It vividly celebrates abstraction with bold graphic cues
While Tanaka’s designs are now most commonly reproduced on posters or in books on Japanese art, Miyake’s creations seek to recontextualise his work, introducing the dynamism of the body to the vitality of the artist’s aesthetic
INFORMATION
The collection is available exclusively from Issey Miyake’s London ‘Pleats Please’ store and Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge from 18 February 2016. For more information, visit the website
-
Discover South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island: food, fun and beachside blissWith natural splendour and a balmy, subtropical climate, Hilton Head Island beckons beach-goers, gourmets and golf fans alike
-
A look inside the home of George Homsey, one of the fathers of pioneering California modernist community Sea RanchGeorge Homsey's home opens for the first time since his death, in 2019; see where the architect behind some of the designs for Sea Ranch, the pioneering California modernist community, lived
-
Love, melancholy and domesticity: Anna Calleja is a painter to watchAnna Calleja explores everyday themes in her exhibition, ‘One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night’, at Sim Smith, London
-
Tranquil and secluded, Lemaire’s new Tokyo flagship exudes a sense of homeIn Tokyo’s Ebisu neighbourhood, Lemaire’s tranquil new store sees the French brand take over a former 1960s home. Co-artistic directors Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran tell Wallpaper* more
-
The Wallpaper* S/S 2025 trend report: ‘A rejection of the derivative and the expected’Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss unpacks five trends and takeaways from the S/S 2025 shows, which paid ode to individual style and transformed the everyday
-
Le Sel d’Issey: the sacred ‘energy of salt’ inspires Issey Miyake’s new fragrance for menAs Issey Miyake’s Le Sel d’Issey launched in Tokyo this week, we spoke with Tokujin Yoshioka about his ‘radiant’ bottle design and the scent's sacred and salty inspiration
-
The A/W 2024 menswear collections were defined by a ‘new flamboyance’Sleek and streamlined ensembles imbued with a sense of performance take centre stage in ‘Quiet on Set’, a portfolio of the A/W 2024 menswear collections photographed by Matthieu Delbreuve
-
In fashion: the defining looks and trends of the A/W 2024 collectionsWe highlight the standout moments of the A/W 2024 season, from scrunched-up gloves and seductive leather ties to cocooning balaclavas and decadent feathers
-
Revisiting the showstopping runway sets of men’s fashion weekAs Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025 draws to a close, Wallpaper* picks the season’s most transporting runway sets, from giant cats at Dior Men to a ‘fairytale ravescape’ at Prada
-
In Kyoto, COS celebrates the ancient art of shibori dyeing with a colour-soaked collection‘We can’t take this type of craft for granted anymore,’ says COS design director Karin Gustafsson, who worked with Kyoto shibori artisan Kazuki Tabata on the airy summer collection. Wallpaper* heads to Japan’s former capital to find out more
-
Inside John Lobb’s sumptuous new Kyoto store, housed in a traditional wooden ‘machiya’John Lobb’s inviting new Teruhiro Yanagihara-designed Kyoto store is introduced with a series of images starring lauded Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda
