Description
Ikko Tanaka Issey Miyake kimono cut jacket (February 2016 collection) – Unisex
This extraordinary jacket, cut as a traditional Japanese kimono and made of pleated fabric, is from the very first Issey Miyake x Ikko Tanaka collection (2016, by Issey Miyake). It’s a genuine piece purchased at the Paris flagstore in 2016. It is in mint condition, worn only twice during two art exhibition openings. This design is called “Futoy Kigo – Variation of Bold Symbols”, and is based on Tanaka’s 1992 design. This is a size 3 (Issey Miyake sizing) but as it is a kimono cut, it can fit really anyone.
The IKKO TANAKA X ISSEY MIYAKE collections were issued in a limited edition. This series was launched in 2016 as an expression of Issey Miyake’s respect for Tanaka’s iconic works and gratitude for all that they have inspired.
Tanaka’s work is known internationally. It coincides with the times when Japan was on the rise, full of vivid colors and optimism. The colors and clean lines in his illustrations and graphic design emphasize the main principle of his work: the notion of substraction. Muji’s first artistic director, Ikko Tanaka is the most famous Japanese graphic designer in the world. Fusing Western modernity and Japanese cultural heritage, his designs evoke both the geometric and minimal aesthetics of the Bauhaus movement and classic Japanese design. Tanaka also left his mark on all of Issey Miyake’s advertising campaigns in the 1990s. Tanaka died in 2002, and Issey Miyake in 2022.
This beautiful kimono-jacket, merging graphic arts and fashion elegance, Japanese tradition and modernism, is hard to find. Some pieces of the same collection are now part of fashion museums’ collections or sold on high-end auction sites.
It can be seen in the official video of the collection (starting at 1:33 of the video):
Also featured in this article (and many others): https://archive.pinupmagazine.org/articles/fine-print-ikko-tanaka-issey-miyake-fashion-collection-design
