Inspired by &ldquo;ma&rdquo; &mdash; the Japanese concept of negative space that depicts instances like the silence between sound or a promise yet to be fulfilled &mdash; designer, Satoshi Kondo, continues the tradition of ISSEY MIYAKE to imbue each moment with joy by creating timeless clothing that allows the body to breathe and move freely.

Issey Miyake, regarded as &ldquo;a tailor of the wind&rdquo; and &ldquo;architect of a feather-light armor for the next millennium,&rdquo; was born in Hiroshima, Japan. Having lived through wartime during his early years propelled him to ever look forward in order to create, not destroy &mdash; a philosophy that guides his brand, ISSEY MIYAKE, which seeks oneness with the world and happiness for the people. This intention continued to unfold during his formative years in Paris where he worked under the tutelage of Guy Laroche and Hubert de Givenchy, followed by a stint in New York as a ready-to-wear designer for Geoffrey Beene. The exposure fueled his pursuit of functionality that led to the creation of MIYAKE DESIGN STUDIO (MDS), and clothing brands, ISSEY MIYAKE MEN and PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE.
The 90s marked the birth of A-POC (A Piece of Cloth) line, co-developed with designer Dai Fujiwara, which pioneered the tradecraft of making garments out of a single tube of fabric. Through the team&rsquo;s dedication to explore new materials and expand its offerings, ISSEY MIYAKE established itself as a technology innovator committed to serving the highest order of form and function under the guise of lighthearted collections and even lighter fabrics. More techniques were developed including garment pleating (sandwiching cut and sewn garments between layers of paper fed to a pleating machine), which is the foundation of Pleats Please, and soon expanded into HOMME PLISS&Eacute; ISSEY MIYAKE, which is revered for preserving a fabric&rsquo;s memory with its signature folds.
Now with more categories under its portfolio like the perfume line, ISSEY MIYAKE PARFUMS, and the sought-after editions of the geometric bag, BAO BAO ISSEY MIYAKE &mdash; the studio opens itself to more possibilities as it enters a new era with the appointment of Satoshi Kondo at its helm.

Satoshi has been with the company for 13 years where he worked on Homme Pliss&eacute; and Pleats Please. After graduating from the Ueda College of Fashion, he joined the team and learned directly from the founder. I ask, &ldquo;What attracted you to ISSEY MIYAKE?&rdquo; He shares, &ldquo;I was interested in Issey Miyake&rsquo;s work when I was in college, in that the scope of his work is not limited to clothing design but inclusive of other creative professions such as art, design, and performing arts, with an emphasis on the idea that creative work should be part of our culture and contribute to the society.&rdquo;
His runway debut for ISSEY MIYAKE Spring/Summer 2020 women&rsquo;s collection emerged as a viral sensation for its theatrical elements including models in helicoptering dresses and skateboarders gliding in parachute parkas. It&rsquo;s a nod to the groundbreaking ISSEY MIYAKE Spring/Summer 1995 show that launched the Minaret dress, a pleated silhouette that softly bounced as models pranced along with wind music. By marrying motifs from divergent influences, Satoshi stays true to the promise of Issey Miyake: East Meets West (1978), a book that edifies how the pioneering designer captured an international audience by amplifying the message that polarities can happily coexist and become one so that the future generations can mingle without friction.
That future has finally arrived, and Satoshi carries on with ISSEY MIYAKE&rsquo;s agenda of connecting cultures through creating resonant designs that celebrate the freedom of the body.

I love the idea that you regard Mr. Miyake as your &ldquo;sensei.&rdquo; What are the lessons that you&rsquo;ve learned from him? He has inspired my work in every way. Of the many remarks he made, the one I always remember is that, while it&rsquo;s important to think about what we as designers can do now, we should always think beyond the present and about how the work we do can bring joy and wonders to our society.
From movies to art, who and what are your influences? I used to travel overseas because I simply enjoyed visiting different countries and learning about different cultures. Now, I would read, listen to music, or go to exhibitions at museums. Also, I tend to pay more attention to things in nature (their texture, shapes, and forms) that we find in our surroundings, as they inspired the latest ISSEY MIYAKE Autumn/Winter 2021-22 collection.
What&rsquo;s your idea of beauty? Timelessness.
It&rsquo;s heartwarming to see that you focus on the humor and joy that clothes bring. How do you translate emotions into clothes? The way I approach a collection can be organic. I often start by imagining a story or a series of scenes and then making sketches based on them. Sometimes I come up with an idea and instead of sketching, I would put pieces of fabric on a dress form to quickly visualize that idea. In terms of expressing emotions through clothes, I believe that they will come naturally as long as the story &mdash; the overarching theme &mdash; is well established.

ISSEY MIYAKE is known for its innovation. What new ideas and technological experiments are you currently working on? For the Autumn/Winter 2021-22 collection, which revolves around how to integrate organic qualities or elements found in nature into a piece of rectangular cloth, we designed a few pleats series where we played with materials and forms. One of them is CLIFF. This series&rsquo; fabric is woven with two types of yarns: one that takes on pleats and the other that doesn&rsquo;t, featuring the pleating design where one texture changes into the other. While the pleated part of the series shows large, ripple-like curves, the non-pleated part is soft to touch with a gentle sheen, giving the garments a delicate look.
What&rsquo;s your favorite ISSEY MIYAKE piece or collection? It&rsquo;s difficult for me to name a specific collection or an item that I like the most. What I would say is that I&rsquo;m inspired by the spirit of the brand that has never changed since its launch which is to keep challenging itself to create something that is original and innovative.
Do you have a specific type of person in mind when designing clothes? It depends on the collection. For the Autumn/Winter 2021-22 collection, I had an image of an intellectual woman and conceived the collection around that female image at different stages in her life as she grows older.
As a millennial handling a storied brand, what are the challenges that you encounter in trying to capture the ISSEY MIYAKE essence for a new generation? When I create a collection, I first consider the story that I want to tell and how to make clothes that reflect that story and inspire joy and beauty. Factors such as age groups or generations are not priorities during the creative process. However, in terms of visual presentation, we always try to work on delivering something that is universal and resonates with a wide range of audiences.
You want to convey notions of unity and connectedness in your collections. What is it like to be a Japanese designer in an industry that often finds its center in Europe? As a Japanese designer, I always try to find ways to introduce a sense of beauty that is uniquely Japanese in the collections. To that end, I often try to integrate elements of traditional Japanese craftsmanship into design and making.

We should always think beyond the present and about how the work we can do can bring joy and wonders to our society.

How is the pandemic affecting your creativity and daily operations at ISSEY MIYAKE? Reflecting on how the pandemic has changed the way we live, now when I create a collection, I would consider how &ldquo;real&rdquo; it is, in that the collection should be something that we can all relate to, and to that end, the garments created should be something that can be treasured for a long time.
What&rsquo;s your dream project or collaboration? I would like to work on a project that involves designing costumes for contemporary dancers or in that sense work with creative professionals in art.
Your recent collection looks very futuristic. What&rsquo;s your sentiment about the future? Are you more of an optimist or a pragmatist? Looking at the current challenges and the uncertainty we are facing around the world, I believe that no matter what the future turns out to be &mdash; as designers, we should try to create things that contribute to our society while keeping in mind that our lifestyle is always evolving, and the world is always changing.
How do you see ISSEY MIYAKE evolving as a more sustainable brand in the future? It has always been part of our company&rsquo;s design philosophy to find creative ways to produce less excess fabric. To that end, when we develop new yarn or fabric, we try to think of solutions to recycle or upcycle them for future projects. Also, as a company, we believe that it is crucial to create garments with longevity, which involves not only using quality materials but also creating timeless design.

Space Maker: Satoshi Kondo Talks About Design and His Role for Issey Miyake

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