The ISSEY MIYAKE FALL WINTER 2022 –  2023 collection Sow It and Let It Grow premiered online. This collection looks at the wild nature of plants and the beauty of their forms, and explores the growth of a seed germinating and developing into roots and sprouts, out of the earth and towards the light. The design and making that have come to fruition, like an untamed, lively plant, are expressed in irregular silhouettes, bright and bold use of color, and a variety of textures in textiles.

MEANDER and WINDING express the vigor and the untamed nature of plants germinating, and roots twisting and curling into the earth. Knitted with recycled polyester yarn in a winding shape, MEANDER is a fine rib knit designed in a way that allows its sculptural form to display many organic details. WINDING (WINDING SOLID) integrates the knit from MEANDER with translucent woven fabrics, creating a new, irregular form of contrasting materials and lines.

RHIZOME is a seamless knit that embodies the collection theme, inspired by the way roots and stems extend and grow freely in every direction. The garments knitted with woolen yarn have a lightweight and airy finish. The design features many openings and lends itself to multiple wearing styles. Rootlike pieces hang loosely from the garment and can be wrapped around the waist or the neck to create a variety of styles.

PODS is a pleated series dyed with the traditional shiborizome (tie-dyeing) technique. The polyester fabric used has a smooth texture that feels like natural fibers. The garment form was designed from three connecting round pieces, inspired by a pea pod. The fabric between the round pieces is first pleated, and then it is tightened and bound by hand by Shiborizome craftspeople in Kyoto one at a time before dyeing. To minimize the bleed of the dyes, the fabric is bound in a specific way and with various kinds of strings. This series is an example of ISSEY MIYAKE’s original design and making, that integrates the traditional technique and its pleating technology.

SLICE represents the succulent cross-sections of fruits and vegetables expressed through the hikizome (hand-drawn dyeing) technique done by artisans in Kyoto. To depict the details of each print on the cotton-cupro fabric, the artisans used different tools to paint in original ways. The group is available in three styles, including a dress that can be worn with or without the sleeve. SLICE is available in three prints, with their positions on the garments designed to preserve the entirety of their shapes, as they wrap around the body boldly from the side.

AROUND features garment forms of straight lines with circles around the neck and waist. The wrinkled texture and the overall organic silhouettes are created by weaving elastic yarn into ring shapes in the fabric and shrinking them during the dyeing process. The quality of the colors is something that can only be achieved with garment dyeing*. The fabric used is woven with a blend of recycled polyester fibers, cotton, and wool. *garments are first finished and then dyed.

GROW is a bright coat series created based on paintings inspired by the growth of a plant. The boldcolored fabric is light and warm. The fabric is first knitted on a jacquard machine with wool on the outside and cotton on the inside, and then milled and pressed in small batches over an extended period of time. The resulting difference in shrinkage between wool and cotton lends itself to expressing the brush strokes and details of the patterns of the original paintings.

LAYER OVER is a series of garments featuring overlapping rectangular pieces of fabric that drape across the body. The soft fabric is slowly and carefully woven with stretch yarn, which is blended with wool for better coloration. The coat and jumpsuit are designed in a way where the fabric over the shoulders naturally drapes around the neck like a collar. The corners of the fabric over the shoulders can be tied to create different styles.

About the Collection

Video Directed by Yuichi Kodama, the video reflects the collection theme as it narrates a plant’s growth. On the stage in the dark lay various knit pieces, like roots spreading around freely in every direction, which come to life as the models wear them. In an enclosed space models and performers in black-and-white garments enter and walk one after another. The way they bump into and are bounced back by the walls represents the wild nature of winding roots. As the cast begins walking up on the stairs towards above the ground, the garments turn bright and colorful, and like growing plants bathing in light and rain, they develop into a variety of silhouettes and textures. Models and performers walk with grace and pride, each like a fresh, ripening fruit or vegetable, until they reach the last scene filled with light.

All images courtesy of Issey Miyake