The Issey Miyake ‘[N]either [N]or’ FW25 collection challenges the binaries of the ordinary with a versatile utilitarian approach.
By Ethan Hall
The Issey Miyake "[N]either [N]or" show was inspired by Erwin Wurm, offering a way to challenge the concept of the binaries of the ordinary. The show begins with sculptures crafted by the performance of models interacting with their clothes to create shapes that don't represent the human form. This is part of Erwin Wurm's signature style in his artwork, creating sculptures through his models posing with everyday objects.
The first looks opening are trompe l'oeils of pictures printed onto fabric. The design blends the image texture and gathering to create an illusion, which produces rich quality in its appearance. Another trompe l'oeil is the mixing of striping and (hand and machine) pleating to create a confusing and illusory texture to the garment. Shortly following these looks are pieces that use pockets and gatherings in the clothes to form odd shapes around the body in a CDG Lumps and Bumps feel.
Double belted formal looks with heavy shoulders and collars and shirt tails that stick out around the garment are used to create sculpted silhouettes. Washi paper used to make yarn produces a surface like a sculpture, contrasted with stretched yarn to give the supple feel of fabric.
The show becomes progressively more asymmetric. Issey Miyake's classic utilitarianism and creativity is prevalent in the shirt that becomes transformative in how the sleeves and panels are interchangeable, allowing the shirt to be rotated and worn in different ways as the wearer needs. The design team's creativity comes through in their "collapsing sculpture," which is a piece of fabric folded and collapsing into the shape of an accordion to create a dress.
Issey Miyake's exploration of sculpture in this collection is successful in provoking a questioning of the concepts of the ordinary through a binary view. Using a layered understanding of clothing, they have created garments with depth and versatility throughout the collection.
