TASCHEN publishes the ultimate book on Issey Miyake to coincide with a major exhibition at the The National Art Center Tokyo, Japan running until June this year.

In 1983, Japanese designer Issey Miyake told The New Yorker that he aspired “to forge ahead, to break the mold.” With a unique fusion of innivation, poetry and practicality, his designs blur the boundaries between art, tradition, modern technology, and casual wear.

This definitive monograph offers unparalleled insight into the designer’s vision and inspiration and stages the clothes through beautiful visuals. It looks at the texture-driven originality of Miyake’s materials and techniques from the very earliest days of his career, before he had even established the Miyake Design Studio. Tracing his progression through the clothes based on A Piece of Cloth concept, Body Series of the 1980s, Miyake Pleats series, and such practical, everyday designs as Pleats Please pieces, the book builds a compelling monument to Miyake’s singular blend of tradition, futurism, and function which remains highly elegant and wearable.

Stunning photographs from Miyake’s contemporary Yuriko Takagi capture the pioneering clothes in their particular daily life. In her far-reaching essay, meanwhile, leading cultural figure Kazuko Koike offers both a complete chronology of Miyake’s work, and an unprecedented personal profile, looking at the ambition and inspirations that have driven his mesmerizing repertoire from tender teenage years.

More Pleats please!