2024 - A-POC ABLE, new brand from Issey Miyake, unveils, for its arrival in France, its collaboration with conductor Michiyoshi Inoue

How to dress the members of an orchestra so that they look elegant and at the same time feel comfortable to perform their various movements inherent to the music? The whole point of the collaboration of Issey Miyake’s brand A-POC ABLE with the conductor Michiyoshi Inoue was there.

In 1998, Issey Miyake presented A-POC (A Piece Of Cloth) for the first time in Paris: a garment cut from a tube of pre-knitted fabric by computer programming. In 2000, the A-POC brand was launched. In 2021, the word “ABLE” (CAPABLE) is added giving birth to A-POC ABLE and its new out-of-bounds projects.

If A-POC has been synonymous with innovation for more than 20 years now, the experimental brand A-POC ABLE looks even more towards the future by developing communication between the person who creates the garment and the person who wears it. The brand is managed by Yoshiyuki Miy. “The designer at the time of Issey Miyake was part of the original team that launched this technique in 1998,” explains the Japanese house. A-POC ABLE “is divided into two segments, projects and products, combining the latest technologies, traditional craftsmanship and artistic creativity”.

After presenting its spring-summer 2024 women’s collection on September 29 during Paris Fashion Week, the Issey Miyake house met with the press at the Grand Veneur hotel in the Marais on October 1 to unveil its new brand A-POC ABLE. Follow the leader.

A first project with musicians

“Each season, there will be new projects, three or four. For each project, these are interdisciplinary works between our teams and totally different fields, either with an industry or with an artist to develop the potential of our techniques” , specifies the house. One of the first three projects is called TYPE-I MM. It is a collaboration with Michiyoshi Inoue, renowned conductor, present on the international scene for many years. Originally, the design team wondered how orchestra members – who need to look stylish during performances – could be dressed comfortably to perform their various movements inherent to the music. The whole challenge of this project was to make clothes by listening to the needs of musicians.

“The thread used to make these clothes is designed with Triporous™ *, a material developed by the Sony group based on rice husks. These residues, usually thrown away, made it possible to obtain a unique black, which dyeing techniques cannot allow”, specifies the house. This black fabric has been designed to offer greater freedom of movement and a feeling of lightness thanks to the addition of a pleat made with the Steam Stretch technique. On clothing, the numerous variations of monochromatic stripes are reminiscent of a musical score that we find, for example, in the stand-up collar jacket, pants or dress.

The visit to the place continues with a sublime and poetic documentary dedicated to this complex creative process. It was performed by Yu Yamanaka with music performed by the musicians under the direction of conductor Michiyoshi Inoue. There series of clothes, resulting from this first project, is presented during a pop-up at Issey Miyake’s Parisian boutique at 11 rue Royale, from October 18 to November 18.

And also versatile and functional products

In addition to these innovative projects, the A-POC ABLE brand also develops a wide variety of materials in order to offer unique products (clothing) that are versatile and functional, comfortable to wear. It is “to create comfortable, everyday clothing that facilitates movement. Each one is classified according to its manufacturing method. Each season, they will be developed in new shapes and colors” highlights, once again, the house, by presenting the different series developed.

The Type-0 series therefore offers a light and stretchy three-dimensional pleat made using Steam Stretch technology. The polygonal shape takes shape when the garment is worn. In the TYPE-S series, the pleated shapes – also made using Steam Stretch – also provide comfort and functionality. By positioning the pleats at the waist and knees, the garment becomes stretchy: “once steamed, it structures the garment to give it a particular aesthetic or functionality. There, for example, at the hips and knees, comfort is optimal when moving.” explains, again, the Japanese house.

In the TYPE-P series, the shapes and colors of a design are superimposed and printed on a piece of fabric. “The pleats are created using a glue that swells when subjected to high temperatures for a beautiful visual effect.” Finally, the TYPE-B series combines collage and printing techniques to create geometric relief patterns. The graphic fabric with different textures then gives the clothes a three-dimensional shape.