clothe to my skin

Japanese designers have “redefined our Western conception of dress and have asked us to accept Eastern methods of garment construction like that of the kimono, in which full widths of fabric are stitched together and not cut into as they are in Western tailored clothing.” [1] What does it have to do with mobility? A clothe made of one a full width of fabric inspires me to think about clothings that are flexible, that can be a scarf, a skirt, or a blanket. These are light and transportable, as they are shrunk, folded, pleated, heat set… Creases, holes, seams and folds are beautiful. They are perfect for the contemporary traveler. Minagawa Makiko, the textile designer whose stoles are in display at the MFA has closely collaborated with Issey Miyake. “Miyake’s vision and Minagawa’s experiment led to the Pleat Please collections, which remain popular today.” [1] It is a collection that fits many body shapes (they expand elegantly)! Minagawa mixes tradition and new technology. Her “knowledge of textile techniques and how they affect the way fabrics drape and fold makes her work unique and is the basis for HaaT, her clothing line.”
Still, like Issey Miyake, she believes in industrial process. The A-POC (A Piece of Cloth) line of Issey is paradoxically unique (strong authorship) and standardized: “overlength sweaters, dresses off the roll—‘a-poc’ is based upon Miyake’s first design concept, a piece of cloth, is a new and unique suggestion for everyday life, which goes far beyond the boundaries of fashion. It is made using an industrial knitting or weaving machine programmed by a computer. This process creates continuous tubes of fabric within which lie both shape and pattern. The customer cuts sleeves and skirts exactly to the length he wants.” [2]

[1] Contemporary Cloth, Stoles by Minagawa Makiko, Exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA October 7, 2005 to July 9, 2006; brochure

[2] http://www.designboom.com/eng/funclub/apoc.html accessed February 6, 2006