Issey Miyake started his career in Paris in the late 1960s, trained under Hubert de Givenchy and Guy Laroche, and returned to Japan in the 1970s to build something genuinely new. His central obsession was the relationship between fabric and the body — specifically, how to make clothing that moved freely, stored easily, and didn't impose a rigid shape on whoever wore it.
The result, across five decades, was some of the most technically innovative fashion ever made.
The lines, explained
ISSEY MIYAKE (mainline) — the flagship runway collection. This is where Miyake pushed hardest: experimental fabrications, A-POC (A Piece of Cloth) technology, garments cut from single pieces of material, sculptural forms that challenged what clothing was supposed to do. Mainline pieces, particularly from the 1980s and 1990s, are serious archive material. What you're looking for is unusual construction — something that clearly couldn't have come from a conventional pattern.
Pleats Please ISSEY MIYAKE — launched in 1993, and the line that made Miyake's ideas accessible to a much wider audience. Pleats Please uses a specific heat-setting process to create permanent micro-pleats in 100% polyester fabric. The pleats don't come out. The fabric is lightweight, packs down to almost nothing, and stretches horizontally — meaning it fits a wide range of bodies and still looks intentional. It's practical in a way most avant-garde fashion isn't, and that's exactly why it has such a devoted following.
Pleats Please sizing runs 1–5, where 1 is the smallest. Size 3 is the most commonly found and covers a broad range — roughly AU 8–14 depending on the piece and how fitted you want it to read.
HaaT — a collaboration between Miyake and textile designer Makiko Minagawa, focused on natural fibres and traditional craft techniques. Less commonly found in vintage markets but worth knowing.
me ISSEY MIYAKE — a younger, more accessible line. Genuine Miyake DNA but less experimental.
What makes Pleats Please worth buying secondhand
The pleating technology is the thing. Genuine Pleats Please pieces use a specific heat-set process that creates permanent, consistent pleats — they don't flatten, they don't wash out, and they don't require pressing. The fabric has a particular weight and drape that's hard to replicate.
On authentic pieces, the pleats are even, the fabric has a slight luminosity, and the construction is clean despite the apparent simplicity. Fakes and lower-quality imitations tend to have irregular pleats that flatten with wear. If the pleats look uneven or the fabric feels stiff rather than fluid, that's a sign something is off.
The other thing worth knowing: Pleats Please pieces tend to hold their condition well precisely because of how they're made. A piece in "excellent" condition is often genuinely excellent.
The matching set
One thing that distinguishes Miyake's mainline work from most contemporary fashion is the idea of coordinated dressing — pieces designed to work together without being a conventional "suit." If you find a blouse and trouser that were made to go together, that's the intended way to wear them: as a coherent unit that reads as considered rather than matched.
What's in stock at Noir Neko right now
Three pieces across two lines:
- Issey Miyake Sleeveless Blouse — mainline. Smooth 100% polyester, part of a coordinated set with the gaucho pants below. Japan. Size 1 (AU 6–8). Excellent condition. $260.
- Issey Miyake Gaucho Wide Leg Pants — mainline. Cropped wide-leg silhouette in smooth technical polyester, designed to be worn as a set with the blouse above. Japan. Size 3 (AU 6–8). Excellent condition. $360.
- Issey Miyake Pleats Please Printed Tank Top — Pleats Please line. Heat-set micro-pleats in a unique print, horizontal stretch, wrinkle-resistant. Japan. Size 3 (AU 8–14). Excellent condition. $360.
All one of a kind. All ship from Australia.
Noir Neko is a curated alternative vintage store based in Australia. We hand-pick every piece for its quality, history, and edge.
