Pleats Please Issey Miyake AW1996 Guest Artist Series No.1 Yasumasa Morimura Pleated Top, Size 3

The first piece in Pleats Please's celebrated Guest Artist Series: Yasumasa Morimura's restaging of an Ingres water-bearer printed across the front, with a plain saffron-yellow back.

The Piece

In 1996 Issey Miyake invited contemporary artists to treat Pleats Please garments as a canvas. The Guest Artist Series opened with Yasumasa Morimura, the Osaka artist known for inserting his own face and body into canonical paintings, and went on to Nobuyoshi Araki, Tim Hawkinson and Cai Guo-Qiang. Morimura's pieces are the founding chapter, and museums including the National Gallery of Victoria hold them in their collections.

This long-sleeved top, model PP04-JK702, carries Morimura's version of Ingres' celebrated 1856 painting of a water-bearer, the classical figure with a water jar on her shoulder, with Morimura's own features and a pair of hands entering the frame from the side. A gilded picture frame is printed down the sleeves, so the wearer quite literally wears the painting. The back and one sleeve are a plain, sunlit saffron yellow, which makes the piece far easier to wear than the image alone suggests.

Inside, the white label reads PLEATS PLEASE, GUEST ARTIST SERIES No.1, YASUMASA MORIMURA, with the Japanese care and composition tag. The series is dated to Autumn/Winter 1996.

Size 3 is the largest regular size; it fits loosely and works beautifully over a slim black skirt or trousers.

Details

• Designer: Issey Miyake with Yasumasa Morimura
• Season: AW1996, Guest Artist Series No.1
• Model / ref: PP04-JK702
• Material: 100% polyester
• Colour: Multicolour print front, saffron yellow back
• Made in: Japan
• Tagged size: 3
• Measurements: Shoulder 46 cm · Chest (pit to pit) 40 cm · Sleeve 54 cm · Length 68 cm
• Included: Top only

Condition

• Print vivid with good contrast.
• Pleats crisp throughout.
• Light age toning to the inner label, as expected at nearly thirty years.
• No significant marks noted on the body.

Condition grade A on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.

Authenticity & Care

The labels, materials, stitching, hardware and construction are examined together and documented in Japan before dispatch; anything that cannot be confirmed is stated plainly in the description. Every piece carries the Japonista authenticity guarantee. Machine wash cool in a net or hand wash, then roll in a towel and lay flat or hang to dry; never tumble dry or iron, and the pleats will keep their shape for decades.

Delivery from Japan

Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything before you buy, and see our published policy.

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