HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE brought its second OPEN STUDIO to London with a new capsule collection inspired by Henri Matisse’s The Snail (1953). Held on September 16th at The Tanks, the one-night event brought pleated clothing, contemporary dance and Matisse’s vivid language of colour and cut paper into dialogue.
From cut paper to pleats
The capsule takes its cue from The Snail, one of Matisse’s celebrated late cut-outs. Created when the artist could no longer paint, the work arranges brightly coloured paper forms across a white ground, reflecting his sense of freedom in cutting directly into colour and allowing shapes to emerge through the act of making.
The HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE design team encountered the work at Tate Modern, responding to its rhythm, vivid palette and sense of movement. The resulting pieces translate Matisse’s individual forms into pleated garments, linking his method of cutting and arranging shapes with the house’s approach to textile construction.
A collection set in motion
For OPEN STUDIO, the South Tank became a circular, almost blank canvas, with benches following the curved walls and individual seats scattered across the space. At its centre, a pleated garment shaped after one of Matisse’s cut-outs formed part of the evolving scenography.
A contemporary dance ensemble performed a site-specific piece inspired by the making of The Snail, extending the collection’s dialogue with movement through an exchange between bodies, colour, architecture and audience.
The collaboration continues HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE’s longstanding relationship with performance, while OPEN STUDIO takes the brand’s clothing beyond conventional fashion settings, bringing its creative process closer to local artistic communities and new audiences.
The Tate capsule
Titled HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE for Tate, the 10-piece capsule is available from September 17th for a limited time, exclusively at Tate Modern’s Terrace Shop and Tate’s online store.
Photography courtesy of ISSEY MIYAKE INC.
