Homme Plissé Issey Miyake was a sneak-peak into the relationship designers have with their clothes. Hosted in Paris, the show space was lit in a warm, relaxing light as the audience found their seats. Ornate balconies overlooked the marbled hall, across which 2D cut-outs of earth-toned t-shirts, kind of reminiscent of sewing patterns, were hung as though strung up on clothing lines. Basically, we knew it was gonna be good before it had even started.
Then, in silence, three people in simple grey vests and trousers entered the space, unrolling a makeshift white runway on a fabric roll. They were followed by a line of people in all black outfits, who knelt before the white fabric, and began slicing it apart with scissors. The silence of the room was like a held breath, barely filled with the sound of scissors cutting through fabric.
These strips of white were then peeled back to reveal bright pieces of clothing beneath them. Now models entered the room, shirtless, and each stood next to an assigned individual in black, who handed them the items of clothing which were revealed to be shirts, bags, and hats as the model’s shrugged them on.
This whole spectacle was like seeing behind the scenes. It was as though we were being treated to a glimpse of the artist’s relationship with a collection before it was shown on the runway, reflected in the black-dressed people’s gentle handling of the clothing by softly smoothing out model’s tops and dusting their shoulders.
As the people in grey returned and began rolling away the remaining white paper from the floor, we were struck with the realisation that the show hadn’t even begun yet. A high-pitched, ethereal music filled the space, indicating the true beginning of Issey Miyake’s SS24 show. What we had just seen was a prequel; now for the real thing.
If we had to sum up Homme Plissé Issey Miyake’s SS24 collection in one word, it would be clean. At first loose fitting pastel sets dominated, and almost every look was monochromatic, minus earth-toned shoes which juxtaposed the sunrise of colours seen in the garments. Layering then broke apart the simple, pastel sets, appearing in pleated vests and jackets over shirts and tees. We hope you didn’t forget about pleating, because it was – as always – Issey Miyake’s main character.
Pleated bum-bags peaked out from beneath jackets, followed by deep-pink wide-pleated jackets which swished lightly around model’s calves. Colour-blocking then gave way to an array of items decorated with a vibrant water-colour pattern in warm and cool tones, seen in pleated jumpsuits, shirts, jackets, and trousers, before finally being splashed across the front of a long, loose white tunic which finished the show.
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