Miyamae San, just as his previous maestro did before him, is working to continue the important tradition of innovation of the brand, with great projects as the 3D Steam Tecnique and the A-POC. After winning the Prize for Innovation in Athens, Yoshiyuki Miyamae explained to Metal Magazine why the future of fashion is more close that what we think.

It is extremely rare that, in the fashion world, technology becomes the focus of attention. I was tremendously encouraged to be evaluated for having continued to create work for Issey Miyake and for developing various techniques and technologies. This has led to confidence in the work we have been doing.

It is difficult to create something entirely from scratch. But I find possibilities in the innovation of linking two different points, such as technology and people, and tradition and technology. I feel that the role of a designer, and his or her job, is to connect all sorts of things while looking closely at the age in which we live.

While doing an endless series of trial and error, and while creating a stretch material, an idea suddenly flashed: that I may be able to make pleats, using the weaving technique. 3D Steam Stretch harnesses and melds two existing techniques of PLEATS and A-POC that are a part of the DNA of Issey Miyake to create something unprecedented.
The shared innovation and uniqueness of those techniques are major features of Steam Stretch, which uses steam heat to shrink cloth into shape. Using a stretch yarn on both the warp and the weft gives the garments 360-degree stretchability, and provides room for weaving techniques that create never-before-seen pleat designs with incredible three-dimensional contours. The development of this new technology is not just about the ability to create three-dimensional shapes only from a single piece of cloth without any sewing; it promises a future of unlimited potential for making clothes.

Japan is one of the countries where all sorts of companies are studying all sorts of things.I don’t know how their technologies will link to fashion, but I do feel that there is potential here.

3D Steam Stretch still has some problems to be resolved, so we will continue our research. Something new may be created as a result of this, as a digression.

Yes. I have been doing research, but have not yet reached the stage where I could use it in everyday life. I’m sure that something interesting in terms of shape and form will be created in the near future, but I’ll wait until something that is usable in daily life comes up.

I feel a sense of responsibility for Issey Miyake’s history that spans more than 40 years. Each time we do a collection my responsibility becomes heavier. Considering both business and developing new things, or creation, is a tremendous task. My biggest driving force is my wish to meet Miyake’s expectations.

By confronting nature, which is an element common to Japanese foods, Japanese paintings and Japanese architecture, we strive to enhance the outstanding quality of the materials used, and to scrape off extras from items to make them simpler. I feel that these processes have things in common with our culture and sets of values.

Japan has simplistic beauty, functional beauty and historic culture on the one hand, which are mixed with music, foods and items from all over the world. Young people actively take in things that interest them, so I think that Japan is a country where the new is mixed with the old.

What I’ve learned from Miyake is to continue to take up challenges. Of course, we have made numerous failures, and carry lots of risks, but even things that appear to be negative when they are looked at as “points”, all eventually turn positive if we think of them in the long term. So I guess that depending on how we see this, research will become a positive aspect for us.