Issey Miyake: Fashioning in 5-dimensions
Can you imagine wearing origami?
Issey Miyake and his group of designers in the Reality Lab can, and have created a magnificent collection of garments that manifest this seemingly odd idea. Their first collective venture, the 132 5. collection, comprises ten large identical pieces of material that are pleated and subsequently formed into blouses, trousers, skirts and dresses. Their design process involves the use of folding one piece of fabric like traditional origami so that when unfolded, it becomes a 3D garment that can be altered with the hidden snaps and darts incorporated into the fabric.
In fact, the numerical name of the line – 132 5. – signifies the design process involved in the creation of the collection. The number “1” refers to the fact that one piece of cloth can become three-dimensional (“3”), and be refolded into its two-dimensional (“2”) state again. The number “5” after the space signifies the temporal dimension that comes into being after the clothing is worn by people. Consequentially, it is also a symbol of the future, the next step forward.
Working towards innovating garment creation techniques that are sustainable, functional and beautiful proves to be the main aim of the Lab collective, which has been in existence since 2007. Their goal is, through research, to explore the future of making things from clothing to industrial products. Miyake also says that the Reality Lab Project Team is meant to explore and build upon the distinctive characteristics of regenerative materials – being mindful of the need for research and material development that will address our dwindling natural resources and the environment.
The design process was initiated through a collaboration with computer scientist Jun Mitani from the University of Tsukuba in Japan. He has developed a computer graphics program that facilitates the design of 3D objects that can be made from a flat piece of paper, based on the art of origami. His software creates geometric shapes with three-dimensional forms that contain a symmetrical axis. Applying this method to fabric was slightly challenging for the Reality Lab team, but they incorporated fold and cut lines in order to create foldable garments that are wearable and sit well on the body.
The design inevitably eliminates waste and the need for cutting and sewing, and even uses recycled polyester as the main material. Miyake and his team worked with Teijin Limited to source recycled polyester that is spun from pulverized and melted polyethylene terephthalate (PET) obtained from the likes of plastic bottles and fleece material. The materials for the 132 5. collection are produced in conjunction with Teijin’s ‘Eco- Circle’ system, where recovered polyester fabric items can be broken down at the molecular level and reprocessed into high-quality, pure, raw materials on a continual basis. This type of polyester is of no lesser quality than the raw version and the fiber does not degrade after processing, unlike virgin polyester manufactured from raw petroleum. And the process has been proven to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions by nearly 80 percent, adding to the sustainability of the collection, as the fabrics could be used repeatedly to produce these garments.
The concept of wearing origami becomes much less peculiar through this undertaking, turning it into an extremely clever way of creating clothing. With new technology available, and imaginative designers that are not afraid of exploring unusual fields of clothing structure and utility, multiple options abound. Not only does this initiative demonstrate the importance of incorporating technology into processes for craft and design industries, but also proves that they can be integral in sustainable and alternative design innovation.
Miyake has always offered the world of fashion intellectual concepts for the implications of the clothes we wear, the most sustainable one thus far being A-POC (A Piece of Cloth). Although 132 5. is considered an evolution of Miyake’s earlier A-POC concept, it does not reconsider the role of the consumer to the same extent. A-POC allows the wearer to really customize the garments through cutting them, which 132 5. does to some degree, yet not as hands-on. However, it offers new parameters for the role of design in eliminating processes that are ethically and environmentally harmful, and can possibly develop into something that increasingly involves the wearer.
The 132 5. collection “fuses the mathematics and beauty of the folded pieces, the elegance and gracefulness the shapes maintain when worn; and the art of clothes making. It is an exploration of ways by which to make many different products as well as to forge new relationships between clothing and human form.” It is precisely this creation of new relationships between clothing and the body that makes the 132 5. collection unique from other ethical or environmental collections. Taking the age old, yet extremely contemporary and logical process of origami and applying it to clothing is precisely the kind of innovation the fashion industry needs in order to re-invent itself and become a functional part of a society that wants to sustain its future.
Fashion needs to be associated with other concepts than it currently is, realizing and adjusting to changes that will undoubtedly take place in the environmental, economical and social arena.
Miyake has said that he, “hopes people will keep [his pieces] a long time, and not replace them every two months. That, for me, is the essence of sustainability.” Fashion needs to be associated with other concepts than it currently is, realizing and adjusting to changes that will undoubtedly take place in the environmental, economical and social arena. In order to create garments that are versatile and applicable to future situations and lifestyles, a new understanding of their design must be implemented. Miyake and the Reality Lab’s work combines traditional techniques that cultures have developed with a technology that can instigate new ways of thinking. As a constantly evolving species, we must retain and use knowledge from historical discoveries to create and develop designed objects and user experiences that sustain our culture and provide us with an abundant and beautiful society. ♥
