Issey Miyake

Cutting edge designer Issey Miyake is branching into two new markets in Fall 2006 - home furnishings & jeans. His new experiments build on the groundbreaking computer-driven manufacturing process he first developed, with design engineer Dai Fujiwara, nearly 10 years ago.

In 1997, the duo invented a means of knitting or weaving entire pieces of clothing -- no sewing needed. Thread goes into the loom, and tops, skirts, and pants come out. To be specific, a wide-flattened tube of cloth emerged, with embedded "seams" that looked like a faint outline. Each piece of clothing could be cut out of the swath of fabric, as you might separate a paper doll's dress from the page along the perforated line.

Because the process produced material that wouldn't fray, wearers could then customize the clothes as they saw fit. Miyake calls the ever-evolving process, and the line of avant-garde clothing made with it, A-POC. It's an acronym for "a piece of cloth."

VFG member Michelle of DesignerTrend and VintageTrend features Miyake in her Designer Spotlight. Photos courtesy of designertrend.com.