Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake was born in Hiroshima, Japan. He was seven years old when the atomic bomb detonated over his city in August 1945, killing his mother from radiation exposure. Choosing to focus on creation rather than destruction, Miyake studied graphic design at Tama Art University in Tokyo before training in Paris under Guy Laroche and Hubert de Givenchy, witnessing the May 1968 student protests.

Founding the Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo in 1970, Miyake rejected Western haute couture tailoring in favor of exploring the relationship between the human body and "a piece of cloth" (A-POC). In 1993, he unveiled Pleats Please, a revolutionary permanent heat-pleating technique applied after garments are cut and sewn, creating lightweight, wrinkle-resistant, universal clothes that moved with effortless grace. Miyake famously designed hundreds of custom black mock-turtlenecks for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, creating Jobs' iconic signature look. His minimalist perfume L'Eau d'Issey became a global phenomenon. In 2006, he received the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy.