Issey Miyake was born in Hiroshima in 1938. After studying graphic arts at Tama Art University in Tokyo, he later decided to study fashion design at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.
In 1970 he opened his own Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo where he could experiment with different design techniques. Through this studio he has been able to develop natural fabrics and designs and has even designed costumes.
The Miyake design sensitivity is all about change and movement. The clothing is exhibited as art, as in the Making Things exhibition at the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain in Paris last year, and appears precisely geometric and static. Once worn, however, they take on volume and mobility, as if they were living sculptures.