Afternoon sun filters across a workshop in Kyoto as artisan Mamoru Nohara tugs on a roll of white linen thread before winding it around two cedar boards. The fluidity of his movements reflects the four decades he has spent perfecting the art of itajime, a traditional Japanese resist-dyeing technique that involves wood being fastened around textiles to create geometric motifs.
While artisans have long applied this dyeing style to kimonos, Nohara is today making something different – an abstractly asymmetrical two-tone top with spiralling panels of colour, to feature in the new collection of Issey Miyake brand 132 5.
Miyake has long been a master of fusing high-tech textiles and futuristic innovations with the imperfect beauty of traditional craftsmanship techniques, typically with timeless results. And since launching in 2010, the 132 5 brand has been synonymous with creating pieces that often fold completely flat, in origami-esque complexity, yet spring open to form sculptural three-dimensional clothing.
The 132 5 A/W22 collection features a trio of garments (top, trousers, coat), collectively called ‘Triangle Dye’, all dyed in three bold colour combinations by itajime artisans in Kyoto. Unlike traditional itajime, the new 132 5 pieces are crafted in Issey Miyake’s signature recycled polyester, made from plastic bottles. The colour combinations include chocolate brown on a soft yellow undyed base; deep, nearly-black green on fiery orange; and indigo blue on light grey.
The release of the clothing this August also coincides with a special exhibition highlighting the itajime process and collaboration at the Issey Miyake Kyoto flagship’s Kura gallery, with further events also scheduled in Taiwan.
This story is from the August 2022 edition of Wallpaper.
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This story is from the August 2022 edition of Wallpaper.
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