Issey Miyake: 50 years of making connections

Art-terly chic: Models presenting creations by Japanese designer Dai Fujiwara for fashion house Issey Miyake as part of his Fall-Winter 2011/2012 collection.

The designer understood far earlier than most the value of incorporating the disciplines of technology and art in his work.

In one of the six Issey Miyake boutiques that line a small, unnamed street in the Aoyama district, a sales assistant got ready to work some magic. She pulled a loop attached to a piece of silvery material that had been carefully folded flat and suddenly, like a puppet in an experimental theatre for cloth, an angular dresss sprang to life, one of the latest styles for the Miyake 132.5 brand.