It all started when I saw a single painting in Daikanyama, Tokyo in the autumn of 2020. Seven different vividly colored threads came together to paint clothing. It was part of TADANORI YOKOO ISSEY MIYAKE 0. It brought together the pleasure of looking at a beautiful picture and the anticipation of putting on new clothes.
At the time, developments in the experimental Rust Harvest project I started in 2016 had led to furniture and other interior products. These successes reaffirmed the beauty of rust patterns and kept me thinking about how to apply that beauty to other areas. It was then that I saw that fateful image. I wondered what would result if we were to blend that weaving technique in that image with patterns created by rust. A spark formed in my mind and I imagined the creation of such a work.
We showed each other our creations in an attempt to find a way to collaborate, and while we had no specific timeframe for our exhibition, nor any concrete ideas for what to make, we continued to experiment and talk until we had stepped into new creative territory with all the tension and excitement that entails. It is the happiest place for a designer to be. Eventually we completed two patterns for jeans. The results easily outstripped the creations I had imagined, and our work together was something truly unique to the two of us.
It is an incredible honor to have created a new piece of cloth with the A-POC team led by Yoshiyuki Miyamae and become part of the long, grand history of ISSEY MIYAKE’ s creations. I want to offer my gratitude to everyone involved in the project, and am pleased to be able to announce it here. I hope that everyone can pick up our creation, see it with their eyes and feel it on their skin.