Issey Miyake

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Discover our carefully authenticated selection of vintage Issey Miyake pieces: Pleats Please garments, Bao Bao bags, A-POC pieces, archive runway designs and rare technical innovations. Every piece is hand-evaluated by our team on avenue Louise and comes with a certificate of authenticity. Because Issey Miyake is not just a brand — it is the most significant technical innovation laboratory in modern fashion history.

The history of Issey Miyake, from Hiroshima to the frontier of textile science

Born in 1938 in Hiroshima, Japan, Issey Miyake studied graphic design at Tamagawa University before training in fashion in Paris, where he worked for Guy Laroche and Hubert de Givenchy in the late 1960s, and briefly for Geoffrey Beene in New York, absorbing both French couture technique and American sportswear pragmatism before returning to Tokyo to establish the Miyake Design Studio in 1970.

From the outset, Miyake positioned himself not simply as a fashion designer but as a researcher into the fundamental relationship between cloth, body and technology. His 1976 collection "A Piece of Cloth" articulated a guiding philosophy that would define his entire career: clothing conceived as the meeting point between a single textile surface and the three-dimensional human form, rather than as a pre-determined silhouette imposed upon the body. This research-driven approach led to some of the most genuinely innovative developments in modern textile and garment technology.

His most commercially and creatively significant breakthrough came with Pleats Please, launched in 1993: a technique in which garments are cut and sewn from oversized fabric before being heat-pressed into permanent pleats, rather than the traditional method of pleating fabric before cutting. The result is garments of extraordinary lightness, packability and durability that have become one of the most recognisable silhouettes in contemporary fashion. He followed this with A-POC ("A Piece of Cloth", developed with Dai Fujiwara from 1998), a revolutionary computer-programmed knitting technology that produces an entire garment, ready to be cut from a single continuous tube of fabric with no waste and no traditional sewing required.

Miyake passed creative direction of the mainline to successors while continuing to drive innovation through the Miyake Design Studio and the Reality Lab research division until his death in 2022. The house continues to produce Pleats Please, Bao Bao, and ongoing technical research, maintaining Miyake's founding belief that fashion's most interesting possibilities lie at the intersection of textile science and the human body.

Iconic Issey Miyake pieces

Pleats Please garments

Launched in 1993, Pleats Please remains Miyake's most recognisable and widely collected line. Tops, dresses, trousers and skirts in permanently heat-set pleats offer a combination of sculptural visual impact, extreme lightness and practical packability that has made them enduringly popular across three decades. Archive pieces from the earliest 1990s collections, in particular collaborative prints, are especially prized.

Bao Bao bags

Launched in 2010, the Bao Bao bag applies Miyake's research-driven approach to accessory design: a geometric, origami-like structure made from triangular PVC panels that can flex and reshape depending on how it is held or filled. Available in numerous sizes and an extensive range of colourways, with early and limited-edition colour combinations particularly sought-after by collectors.

A-POC pieces

A-POC garments, produced from a continuous tube of computer-programmed knitted or woven fabric and customised by the wearer through cutting, represent one of the most genuinely radical innovations in garment production technology. Original A-POC pieces from the line's earliest years (1998 onward) are extraordinarily rare and represent the most conceptually significant tier of the Miyake archive.

132 5. Issey Miyake

Developed with Reality Lab and computational designer Jun Mitani, the 132 5. line produces garments that fold flat into striking geometric shapes before unfolding into wearable three-dimensional forms — a direct continuation of Miyake's lifelong investigation into the relationship between flat cloth and worn garment.

Archive runway pieces

Miyake's mainline runway collections from the 1970s through the 1990s, predating Pleats Please, demonstrate his early experimentation with traditional Japanese textile techniques alongside Western tailoring — pieces increasingly studied and collected for their historical importance in the broader narrative of Japanese fashion's international emergence.

How to authenticate an Issey Miyake piece

Authenticating an Issey Miyake piece requires the examination of several combined criteria. No single point is sufficient — it is the coherence of the whole that matters. Here are the 7 checkpoints we systematically verify in our atelier on avenue Louise.

1. The interior label

Pieces carry a sewn interior label specific to the relevant line: "Issey Miyake", "Pleats Please Issey Miyake", "A-POC", or "132 5. Issey Miyake", each with distinct label design and typography. Identifying the correct line and label format is essential for authentication.

2. The pleating quality (Pleats Please)

Authentic Pleats Please pleating is exceptionally sharp, regular and permanently heat-set into the fabric. The pleats should hold their shape consistently without the garment requiring ironing, and should spring back into form after being compressed or packed. Soft, irregular or fading pleats are inconsistent with the technique.

3. The Bao Bao panel construction

Authentic Bao Bao bags feature precisely cut and assembled PVC triangular panels with clean, consistent edges and secure stitching at every seam. The panels should flex and move as designed, with no panels detaching or showing signs of weak adhesion.

4. The fabric and material technology

Miyake's signature lines depend on specific textile technologies — heat-set polyester for Pleats Please, programmed knit construction for A-POC. The material should feel and behave consistently with the technique it claims to represent.

5. The stitching and construction

Where conventional stitching is used (as opposed to A-POC's seamless knit construction), it should be precise, regular and consistent with Miyake's exacting technical standards throughout.

6. The colourway and print accuracy

Pleats Please and Bao Bao have been produced in an extensive range of colourways across decades. Colour accuracy and consistency, particularly for documented limited editions or collaborative prints, is an important reference point for authentication.

7. Historical and technical coherence

Given the technical specificity of Miyake's various lines, a piece's claimed technique should be entirely consistent with its actual construction. Cross-referencing against documented archive pieces is often necessary for significant or unusual garments.

Our method: at Les Enfants d'Édouard, every piece undergoes a three-stage examination — visual inspection, technical verification (label, pleating/construction technique, material, stitching) and cross-referencing against our reference database. Every authenticated piece comes with our certificate of authenticity.

Size guide

Pleats Please Issey Miyake size guide
Size	EU equivalent	Best for
1	XS/S	Petite frame
2	S/M	Standard fit
3	M/L	Standard fit
4	L/XL	Relaxed fit

Sizing notes

Pleats Please garments are designed with significant give built into the pleating structure, meaning a single size often accommodates a wider range of body shapes than conventional sizing suggests. Always check the specific garment's intended stretch and fit, particularly for fitted styles versus more generously cut pieces.

Why invest in a vintage Issey Miyake piece

Miyake's archive occupies a unique position bridging fashion and design history, with his garments held in major design and art museum collections worldwide. Pleats Please pieces from the original 1990s collections, particularly those featuring collaborative prints or limited-edition colourways, command strong and growing demand on the secondary market, supported by both the line's continuing wearability and its historical importance.

Three factors underpin this value. First, genuine technical innovation: Miyake's developments — particularly Pleats Please and A-POC — represent verifiable breakthroughs in textile and garment technology, giving his archive a significance closer to industrial design history than typical fashion collecting. Second, exceptional durability: the heat-set pleating technique means Pleats Please garments from the 1990s remain in excellent condition decades later, unlike many contemporary garments from the same era. Third, design museum recognition: institutional collecting of Miyake's work has elevated the cultural status and collector interest in his archive considerably.

For those wishing to sell an Issey Miyake piece, we offer an expert consignment service.

Our Issey Miyake selection in Brussels, avenue Louise

Our boutique Les Enfants d'Édouard, 175 avenue Louise, 1050 Brussels, carries a curated selection of authenticated vintage Issey Miyake. We welcome you Tuesday to Saturday and offer private appointments outside regular opening hours.

Care and maintenance of your Issey Miyake pieces

For Pleats Please garments, hand wash in cold water or machine wash on a delicate cycle inside a protective bag, then hang to dry without wringing. Never iron — the pleats are permanently heat-set and ironing will damage rather than refresh them. Garments can be folded flat for storage or travel without losing their pleat structure.

For Bao Bao bags, wipe clean with a soft, slightly damp cloth — the PVC panels are easy to maintain but should be kept away from prolonged direct heat, which can cause warping. Store in a cool, dry place.

For A-POC and 132 5. pieces, follow the specific care instructions for the individual garment, as construction techniques vary significantly across these technical lines.

Frequently asked questions about vintage Issey Miyake

How do I recognise an authentic Issey Miyake piece?

A sewn interior label matching the specific line (Pleats Please, A-POC, 132 5., or mainline) with era-appropriate design, sharp and permanently heat-set pleating for Pleats Please pieces, precisely constructed PVC panels for Bao Bao bags, fabric and construction consistent with the specific technical line, and precise, regular stitching throughout.

Do vintage Issey Miyake pieces appreciate in value?

Yes, particularly original 1990s Pleats Please pieces with collaborative or limited-edition prints, and early A-POC garments, which represent the most conceptually and technically significant tier of the archive. Demand has grown as design museums have institutionalised Miyake's contribution to textile innovation.

Which Issey Miyake pieces are most sought-after?

Original 1990s Pleats Please pieces, particularly in collaborative artist prints, early Bao Bao bags in limited-edition colourways, original A-POC garments from the line's earliest production, and any documented archive runway pieces from his pre-Pleats Please collections of the 1970s–1980s.

What warranty do you offer on Issey Miyake pieces?

Every piece is guaranteed 100% authentic, with a certificate of authenticity and 14 days to return (return shipping costs excluded).