The Internet had changed our lifestyle, and we came to an era where retail stores have to find a new way of being,” says Tokujin Yoshioka, the designer behind Issey Miyake’s new Homme Plissé store in Tokyo.
That way of being has culminated in a state-of-the-art retail experience for Issey Miyake’s fashion empire. The label’s new store, taking up real estate in Tokyo’s Minami-Aoyama neighborhood, is intended to represent a physical representation of the Japanese essence of monozukuri no gemba, or “making things,” which is executed through the installation of one of the high-tech machines that creates some of the brand’s most recognizable designs. The workshop sits behind a glass wall where artisans create pieces exclusively on premise. The process, known as seihin pleats, involves cutting and sewing fabric to 1.5 times the final size, and then carefully feeding it through the specialized machines which resemble an industrial-sized printer. The limited-edition COLORS collection of pleated long-sleeve T-shirts will be available exclusively at the new boutique in ten different hues. The idea was Miyake’s own, to showcase this rarely seen piece of machinery that creates garments that have become the essence of the brand.
