The Creative Universe of Japanese Design House Issey Miyake

Rehearsals in Paris for Issey Miyake's AW16 runway show with models wearing the design house's finely-pleated sculptural creations. Cover picture and all photographs by Elli Ioannou

In Paris, our special correspondent and photographer Elli Ioannou went backstage to shoot the elaborate preparations for the Issey Miyake AW16 show and attended the launch of a comprehensive new book about the Japanese designer's life and work by Taschen

Homage to Issey Miyake's signature style

ONE of the many traits which separates Issey Miyake from other haute couture creative directors is his approach to nurturing young designers. The Japanese designer gives them a platform from which they can develop their skills and talent and offers a five year tenure. Yoshiyuki Miyamae is Issey Miyake's current womens' wear designer since 2010 but has been a member of the design team since 2006, under Dai Fujiwara. The AW16 womens’ range in Paris is a visual homage to the origins of the Issey Miyake signature style including traditional shapes, colours and textures and using his innovative fusion of technology, art and fashion. Called Beyond, the collection drew its inspiration from the vastness of the universe and beauty born from a piece of cloth using Miyake's “baked stretch” and “3D steam stretch” techniques.

The fabric's 'memory' holds the pleats

It was during the late 1980s when Miyake began to experiment with new methods of pleating that would allow flexibility of movement for the wearer as well as ease of care and production. The garments are cut and sewn first, then sandwiched between layers of paper and fed into a heat press, where they are pleated. The fabric's 'memory' holds the pleats, when it is liberated from the paper cocoon, it is ready to wear.

Backstage the special make-up is created

Leading up to the fashion house's latest show, preparations by the Miyake production teams happen simultaneously and very calmly. At times
it appears more like a theatre rehearsal: testing the lighting, runway, choreography, model positions and last minute alterations to the clothes. The electronic sounds of experimental duo Ei Wada and Haruka Yoshida from the Open Reel Ensemble play ecstatically, oblivious to all the activity around them. Gathering before the show are invited guests, an array of VIP’s, buyers, shop managers and press from the Issey Miyake global team. They are all wearing complete Issey Miyake ensembles and carrying a version of the must-have Bao Bao bag. By the final rehearsal, it feels like a full house with at least 150 people sitting in the audience.

On the runway, working on the show's rehearsal

The rehearsals before fashion shows offer a special time also for photographers to capture something different. Without an audience there is an unusual intimacy between the photographer and the models. Then the show finally opens in almost complete darkness, the intricate sounds of the Open Reel Ensemble set the atmosphere for the collections’ theme of Beyond. The ensemble, who appear more like scientists than musicians, immerse the audience in an all-encompassing experience of sound amid the blackness, apart from some light coming from the sound stage and mist rising from below.

Musicians Ei Wada & Haruka Rashida in Paris

Ei Wada and Haruka Roshida also created an instrument, the Kankisenthizer which they use during the show. It’s purpose being to explore light being transformed into sound. A machine using photosensitive sensors create the light the audience sees transmitted via the blades of exhaust fans. A burst of white light, reveals models coming down a metallic runway wearing colours of royal red, fuchsia pink and aqua blue with strong textures and origami-like shapes. Welcome to the deep and atmopsheric universe of Issey Miyake.

Dickenson at the book launch

To coincide with the AW16 Paris show, the fashion house  also launched the simply-titled Issey Miyake published by Taschen at the Paris flagship store. An international and cosmopolitan crowd of guests gathered for the book launch and had the opportunity to preview the large coffee-table book that draws on more than 40 years of collaborative work with Miyake. A comprehensive and encyclopedic reference, the book covers all of the designer's fabric and technical innovations through his designs. There are also privileged behind-the-scenes, including stories from one of Issey Miyake’s early models from the Eighties, Debbie Dickinson.

Backstage in Paris for Issey Miyake's AW16 runway show with models wearing the design house's finely-pleated sculptural creations. Cover picture and all photographs by Elli Ioannou

Growing organically like a fern frond, a detail of the decoration integral to one of Issey Miyake's new pieces shown on the AW16 runway in Paris

Models wait to walk on to the runway at Issey Miyake's AW16 show in Paris

Enveloped by flowing, pleated long jackets, models strut the runway during rehearsals

Long, black leather boots contrast with the airy lightness of Miyake's creations

 Mist rises during the atmospheric show set to the intricate sounds of the Open Reel Ensemble

 A model has her make-up created before the runway show

Alterations are made to the clothes during the rehearsals in Paris

Models are instructed about the choreography of the Parisian show 

A cylindrical dress in red with pleats that seem to wrap around the body

Brilliant colour was mixed with strong, asymmetrical shapes to create the new Issey Miyake show

 Photographer Elli Ioannou captures the subtle movement of the Miyake clothes on the runway

Architectural in its conception, this long coat was one of the stand out pieces in the new collection

A graphic piece of designer Issey Miyake's work on show at the launch of the book about his life and work in Paris

A guest at the Taschen book launch wears a stylish, pleated hat that captures the Miyake aesthetic

The new book launched in Paris about the designer's work and his avant-garde techniques using different fabrics

The New Theatre of Fashion: Street Style in Paris at Valentino

 Photographers on the white carpet outside the Valentino AW16 ready-to-wear show in the Jardin des Tuilieries in Paris. Cover picture and photograph (above) by Elli Ioannou

What people are wearing outside fashion shows has become almost as important as what models are wearing inside on designers' runways. Our correspondent in Paris Elli Ioannou captures in words and pictures the theatrical scene outside the balletic Valentino show at the Jardin des Tuileries

 Wearing top-to-toe Valentino

STREET style photography is now an integral part of fashion weeks in Paris, London, Milan and New York, alongside magazine and newspaper reports about what is shown on designer runways. A whole industry has sprung up devoted to capturing looks outside the shows from the outrageous to the pert and pretty. Press photographers, bloggers and fashonistas all vie for shots that will be sent around the world via online publications and social media to reach a fashion hungry audience. The army of fashionistas, guests and posers that gather outside designers' shows attracts photographers from the around the world and is made even more ubiquitous thanks to digital cameras and the onslaught of the fashion blog.

Fashionable duo outside Valentino 

However, because of the Paris attacks last November, security was heightened at this March's Autumn/Winter 2016 womenswear shows and the French chamber of commerce stated that the location of venues was not to be released publicly. Yet swarms of photographers still appeared outside shows, including the beautifully balletic Valentino ready-to-wear collection. Clearly the street style photographers have become more resourceful and information spreads like wildfire among the blogger pack. On day eight of a mostly wet and grey Paris Fashion Week, the sun finally shone for the new Valentino collection created by the brilliant Italian design duo Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli. The fashion house thoughtfully laid out a long, white winding carpet from the street to its show at Espace Éphémère Tuileries in the Jardin Des Tuileries.

Stylishly rugged up before the show

As guests exited the elegant and romantic collection, they themselves offered a visual feast for all of the press waiting outside. After the show, they provided a dash of colour and flair against the leafless trees and cumulus clouds silhouetted against the gardens. Some wore eccentric concoctions that bore no relation to fashion trends and others were encased in head-to-toe Valentino ~ mostly worn with white Adidas sneakers. Journalists, photographers and fans alike lined up along the white ‘catwalk’ outside the entrance to the show, in what felt like the Oscars of the fashion world. The guests expect to be photographed and most are obliging and happy to stop and a pose. But as a photographer, you still need to be fast , and assertive to set up a shot that is slightly different from all of the rest jostling to get a great image.



A model is photographed after the runway show 

When all of the guests are gone, the fresh-faced, young models exit after their job on the runway is over and they stop to pose for the waiting crowds. The Valentino models came out with their hair in sleek ballerina buns and pale, softly made-up faces. There is a whole subculture dedicated to photographing the models after the shows. The new paparazzi, are not mean, invasive or rude but they are avid photography and fashion enthusiasts and it offers many a chance to get a professional start in Paris, as the shows are notoriously difficult to get an official invite to. Social media and digital technology have made what used to be strictly industry-only events for top magazines, serious buyers and celebrities accessible to a much wider audience.

Kristina Bazan outside Valentino

Now fashion pictures appear in real time on Instagram, blogs and Facebook posts. No longer is it ‘street style’ where people are captured going about their business in cities but the fashionista outside the shows offers a carefully calibrated look and performance. It is an act in which both the subject and the photographer are willing participants. Artistic self expression, beauty and fantasy are all part of what makes up fashion street style that seemingly provides an endless source of fascination to the waiting photographers and fans. In Paris, if what was happening inside at the shows was exciting, outside the theatre of fashion was providing another, more egalitarian source of inspiration and entertainment.

Braving the wintry weather, a fashionista in brilliant red captures the attention of waiting photographers

 A stylishly eclectic mother and daughter walk the white carpet at Valentino in Paris

A Nehru-collared suit covered in hand-printed drawings and a dramatically fringed shawl made this this couple one of the most photographed in the Jardin des Tuileries 

An emerald green silk trench coat worn by a Valentino guest stood out against the grey Parisian day

Dressed for maximum theatrical attention, this fashionista was one of the most photographed people outside the Valentino show

An elaborately embroidered overcoat was mixed up with white Adidas trainers captured the fashion mood in Paris for Autumn/Winter 2016

Time After Time: Paris Fashion Week's Seventies Zeitgeist

 Ziggy Stardust and all things David Bowie were some of the key inspirations in Paris this season. The 1970s ruled many catwalks with thigh high boots, glitter, tartan and flares. Pictured is a shimmering mini-cape from Barbara Bui's collection. Cover picture & photograph above by Elli Ioannou 

Our correspondent in Paris looks behind the scenes at what it takes to get a collection onto the runway at fashion week in the French capital for Autumn/Winter 2016 and discovers that the 1970s vibe is still the key direction, with David Bowie and the Sex Pistols all important influences along with short hair, thigh high boots and tartan. Story & photographs by Elli Ioannou


5am emblazoned on models at Lea Peckre 

TIME is an important factor when it comes to creating a fashion show, at least five months of preproduction are needed for the designer and their team to put a collection on to the catwalk. And on the day of the show, there are at least seven hours of work and preparation behind the scenes leading up to the models appearing on the runway. This includes briefing the models on the choreography, practise runs for hair and make up, final fittings, garment adjustments and testing the lighting and music.

Neo-Goth meets New Romantic at Lea Peckre



Putting on a fashion show is all about timing and this is a key theme for award-winning French designer Léa Peckre's AW16 collection 5.00am, Dragon arum vulgaris. As guests begin to arrive for the designer's show, the lights are dimmed and the sound designer Erwan Sene sets the mood for the collection with dark, loud and mysterious sounds.  

The models wear square nose rings and tattooed numbers of  5:00 am around their necks reflecting the theme of the collection, while the pre-dawn hour is repeated in more cryptic motifs on the clothes. We sit waiting by the empty runway which finally gets underway half an hour late (like most of the shows), and the sense of time speeds faster as the music cranks up and the models hit the catwalk.

Andy Warhol's "fifteen minutes of fame" matches the length of the shows which are all over too soon for another season.

Big hair and a '70s aesthetic at Barbara Bui

The architectural space where the shows are held also reflect the direction of each fashion house. While more established designers like Barbara Bui showed at the prestigious Grand Palais, emerging designers such as Léa Peckre and Ellery put on their runway collections at the contemporary and more edgy Palais de Tokyo. The place where a show is held not only creates the atmosphere but offers photo opportunities inside and out for the scrum of jostling photographers.

Tartan, leather & velvet at Barbara Bui 

The directions for this season unmistakably embody the zeitgeist of the 1970s, where disco, Studio 54, David Bowie and the Sex Pistols were all important influences. The innovative fashion of the time directed this season's collections with fabrics such as tartan, leather, fringing, tweed, velvet and metallics. The models at Barbara Bui looked like a young Biana Jagger, Iman or Blondie partying at Studio 54 and captured the '70s aesthetic with short hair and thigh high boots, that any Bond girl would have proudly worn.

Green, purple & mini dresses at Barbara Bui

The designer's collection included bright green and purple leather coats, mini dresses, along with Scottish sexy tartan fitted tunics. The Paris-born Barbara Bui has been showing her designs since 1987 and in 1998 BB was launched as a high fashion brand with stores around the world including Paris, Milan and New York. Whereas young French designer Léa Peckre’s “time” collection moved into the 1980s with a New Romantic meets Neo-Goth direction with ruffles, petal-shaped skirts, rippling shirts, fitted mesh tops and leather and white maxi stretch mesh dresses. 

Sheer maxi-dresses & shirts at Lea Peckre 

The colour palette was in white, black and grey. Models also wore another version of the classic billowy white shirt with hanging industrial style strings, sheer fitted dresses in white and black. Before launching her own label in the autumn/winter 2013 season, Lea Peckre worked at Givenchy, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Isabel Marant and today is one of Paris most interesting young designers.

Australian Kym Ellery showed her collection at the Palais de Tokyo and created metallic gold and bronze dresses with floaty Laura Ashley sleeves, white shirt dresses with tan leather thigh boots, gold mesh, deep velvet and even leather dresses. The collection included over sized tweed, ankle-length coats with hanging strings, outfits adorned with pink swan neck style fur finishes, bell-bottom, tulip-cut jeans and leather ankle and gold velvet boots which could have come directly out of London’s Soho in the 1970s
 

Ellery's sleek & tailored take on the Seventies

Ellery is based in Sydney and began her label in 2007 after being a fashion stylist for magazines. Known initially inside the fashion world, today the designer has a high profile following who wear her designs including Rihanna, Solange Knowles, Cate Blanchett, and Elle Fanning.
David Bowie has been one of Ellery's greatest muses and inspirations for the label's tailored 1970s looks. Ellery as a label made it's official, on-schedule debut in Paris last season and fulfilled another of the young designer's aims to show on the international fashion stage and with a touch of French elan too.


 Bell-bottom flairs & leather boots at Ellery

The designer has described her aesthetic as understated, monochromatic and often androgynous and she takes great care working with fabrics she has made in Italy and Switzerland which are then made locally in Sydney.

Like London fashion week, these shows in Paris indicated an original take on an iconic period in fashion making it relevant to 2016.

From Pink to Black with Lots of Colour Clash: Autumn/Winter 2016

Black is back at A.F Vandevorst with a splash of Gothic glamour for AW16. Picture by Mike Rolls 

London is often referred to as the colourful, youthful sister of Paris, Milan and New York fashion weeks. It has certainly always been the most experimental with its fresh and energetic collections. While last season’s collections focused on a soft feminine look, this Autumn/Winter 2016 shifted to an edgier, darker side. Limor Helfgott reports on the trends from the British capital's runways


Belstaff's snug new cape. Photo: Mike Rolls

Fashion editors, photographers and bloggers dash from show to show in London, New York, Milan and Paris taking in the key trends to look out for next season. Femininity and romance are still key themes in new collections, but the designers leaned towards amore Gothic glamour in London. Burberry will also bring the fashion from catwalk shows to High Street stores faster than ever, and fashionistas will be buying their favourite pieces almost straight from the runway.

Capes and over sized coats

Big coats & brilliant colour at Fyodor Golan 

Given the chilly London weather, coats are always a strong part of LFW collections. So it’s not a surprise that they are going to be important for AW16. This season, the overcoats and jackets on the catwalks were bigger, longer and slouchier with expansive sleeves. The trench coat was reinvented as always at Burberry, this time featuring sleek patent leather with polished buckles and military top-stitching.  Aside from over sized coats, the biggest outerwear trend on the catwalks were capes, they look like a very chic way to stay warm this winter.


Their comeback this season comes in many different versions. At Alexander McQueen we saw a dreamy foot length cape, shimmering with embroidered moons and stars which was another repeating motif this season. At Roksanda, there was a more classic version keeping the shape simple in a bold royal blue wool cape with a ladylike collar and black buttons. A more casual day wear design was shown at Belstaff, using a mixture of textures for a traditional feel offering warmth and comfort.

Think Pink & Add Some Bows
Bows were everywhere this season, but certainly the grown-up version and not the sweet kind.

Pink chiffon blouses with velvet bows at Roksanda AW16

A Gothic bow turned simple capes into new and interesting pieces. Topshop's bows were small and subtle, worn tightly around the neck or to tie together tops, while at Roskanda and Preen they were unapologetically large and dramatic. At Roksanda’s collection, although it was darker than usual and inspired by Charlotte Rampling’s character in the classic film The Night Porter,

 Bright pink at Fyodor Golan's London show

femininity was still key with velvet, silk and chiffon blouses with exaggerated wrists, and collars that were softened with bows of black ribbon. Pink is a traditionally pretty hue but has gotten all grown-up for winter and dominated the catwalks. It was definitely the colour this season. Every shade on the pink spectrum was seen, from soft roses to bold pinky reds to brighten up our wardrobes this season. Bright pink was the order of the day at Roksanda while pastel shades  brought the AW16 catwalks to life at Alexander McQueen, Preen and Holly Fulton. Does that mean we will be branching out from black? Not entirely. 


Sparkling black metallics gleamed at Sibling's show

Black & Glitter 
Inventive and exciting looks in all black from top-to-toe were seen in many of the designers' collections. This trend is good news for us who can’t stay away from the timeless shade but want subtle differences in shape and texture. There were shimmers or all-over sequins at Ashish, paired with glittering stilettos, exaggerated hairdos and even pyjamas. Sparkling metallics were seen all across the London collections, blurring the lines between seasons and occasions and enlivening the runways. Topshop Unique added a fully sequinned little black dress into their wearable mix, and Preen by Thornton Bregazzi lit up an autumnal, moody collection of burnt dark colours with candy floss pink sequin looks. Even Fyodor Golan, in their signature eclectic and bright collection, included an all black outfit, a tight dress with a white Coca-Cola logo going down the front.

Print & Colour Clash

Colour clash at Marques Almeida. Photo: Eva Rinnie

Looking at the new collections there is no such thing as too many colours in one outfit, many combined clashing vibrant hues. Anya Hindmarch included in her collection an assortment of oversized coats with classic retro game prints that correlated with the shoes. At Jasper Conran models hit the white runway in bright colours like avocado and pastels, bold stripes and geometric patterns overlaid on soft silk materials. 

While a print-clashing style was served up by Mary Katrantzou with florals mixed with  leopard print. Designer duo Fyodor Podgorny and Golan Frydman presented skirts and dresses in prints and bold colours. Mixing and matching is their signature and the designs were immediately recognisable for their risk-taking combinations. The Fyodor Golan girl certainly stands out at LFW, this time with repeat prints in an Andy Warhol style, wearing gold and silver brogues and pink, blue or green tights.

Splattered Eyewear
A.F. Vandevorst's collection by the Belgian husband and wife duo, who love to shock, put their models on the runway with dramatic powder paint make-up in bright blue and red splashed across their eyes. While at Burberry and Markus Lupfer the shows were more low key but models still wore smatterings of gold glitter. At Fyodor Golan the harsh under eyeliner came with messy wet look hair.

 Georgia May Jagger in black at Ashley Williams. Photo: Limor Helfgott

As always, London is the most divisive of all the fashion weeks across the globe.  It is where rules get broken and leads the way for new and avant-garde designers to show their work. We're interested to see how the trends seen during this autumn/winter 2016 on the runway will be transformed into high street fashion and how quickly it will happen this season.

New Exhibition: Ernesto Cánovas Show at London's Halycon Gallery

The Spanish artist working in his studio photographed by Susan Bell. Courtesy of Halycon Gallery

Ernesto Cánovas' new exhibition Multiplied opens today at Halycon Gallery in London's Mayfair. Lissandra Hemilton talks to the Spanish artist about his life and elegiac work that mixes different mediums such as printmaking, photography and painting to create an evanescent sense of memory and a disconcerting wistfulness


A Second Implication by Ernesto Canovas. Courtesy of Halycon Gallery

“Drawing, painting and photography give me the chance to manipulate the image the way I want and create something new but I am also considering other mediums as a form of expression,” Ernesto Cánovas says from his studio in London. “I like to keep an open mind.” The artist breaks down barriers between figurative images and abstraction and creates new narratives from both old and new media.

Difference in the Expressive Function of Current Events

“I consider myself a post analog painter,” he says. “I used digital image manipulation before I translated it to painting, so drawing and painting for me are just one part of my process.” Cánovas adds and removes layers from the wood panels onto which he transfers images combining them with abstract compositions. He works and reworks them before they are varnished and the finished works seem weather beaten, evoking sensations of lost places, nostalgia and memory, challenging the viewer to contemplate the fleeting present while being drawn back into a unknown past.

Green Room. Courtesy of Halycon Gallery 

Asked about what part of his work gives him the most happiness, Cánovas answers: “I think there is not a specific point for me that gives me happiness (love and hate) it is the whole process, from the first idea or the sketch to the final 'brush mark'.” For the new show Multiplied, Cánovas has created a series of works using large scale mixed media on wood panel, that continues his exploration of cinema, abstraction and found imagery. The use of different materials applied to the wooden canvas such as graphite drawings, acrylic, mixed media, enamel paint and resin create a strong sense of natural and man-made and past and present. At the new exhibition, some of the work on display is a collaborative partnership between Ernesto and his wife, Polish artist Gracjana Rejemer-Cánovas.


Conspiracy. Courtesy of Halycon Gallery

Today, Canovas lives and works in London, but he was born in Barcelona and this year will start a residency at the prestigious Art Centre Espronceda in his home city. The artist graduated with a BA (Hons) in Drawing and Painting from Edinburgh College of Art in 2009 and then went on to complete an MFA from the Slade School of Art in London in 2011. He was selected for The New Contemporaries Exhibition in Edinburgh and was awarded the Stevenson Award for Painting in 2010 and received the Premio Ora arts award in 2013.

1. Where did you grow up and does this place still influence your artwork? I grew up in Barcelona and I’m sure there is some Mediterranean influence in my work, somehow.

2. Why did you choose painting and drawing as your artistic métier? Drawing, painting and photography give me the chance to manipulate the image the way I want it and create something new but I am also considering others mediums as a form of expression. I like to keep an open mind.

3. What aspect of painting and drawing gives you the most happiness? I think there is not a specific point for me that gives me happiness (love and hate) it is the whole process, from the first idea or the sketch to the final “brush mark”.

4. What do you find the most challenging aspect of your work? To create something that will fully satisfy me.


Systematic Ambiguity. Halycon Gallery 

5. Can you describe the experience, person or training that has had the greatest impact on your artistic career? Travelling around always had an impact on my work. Finding out different cultures is very rewarding. People in cities like New York, London and Paris just to name a few are full of energy and have a great influence on my life and career.

6. Describe your studio and whether you have a set schedule of working everyday? Or is the process more fluid? I’m very flexible when it comes to studio work, sometimes I can be there from 7am and spend all day at the studio, or I will just stay home reading and doing some research …somedays a walk in the park will do.

7. Do you find your creative process is more rational or instinctive? I work ninety per cent instinctively, ten per cent rationally but at the end of the day it all makes sense…I think!

8. How would you describe working as a contemporary artist in Europe today? Europe has a great diversity and awareness from South to North…East to West. It is a good place to be for as an artist.

9. Is there a particular town or place in the world you find inspiring? As I have mentioned before big cities full of energy are always inspiring to me.

10. In our digital age, what do painting and drawing give us as art forms? I consider myself a post-analog painter. I used digital image manipulation before I translated it to painting so drawing and painting for me is just one part of my process…maybe drawing and painting give us the human touch the we connect with.

Multiplied by Ernesto Canovas runs from February16th until March 13th 2016 at Halycon Gallery:144-146 New Bond Street, London, W1S 2PF United Kingdom. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7100 7144 Opening hours: Monday to Saturday: 10am-6pm and Sunday: 11am-5pm: www.halcyongallery.com/exhibitions/ernesto-canovas-multiplied