Issey Miyake’s origami-like designs have made a crease in style history, and the proof is in two of this year’s major fashion exhibits. At the National Art Museum, Tokyo, an exposition of the Japanese designer titled “Miyake Issey Exhibition: The Work of Miyake Issey” (through June 13) features looks spanning from 1970, when he opened his design studio, to the present. In New York, his forward-thinking and technical methods are spotlighted at the Met Costume Institute’s show “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” (through August 14), where a section dedicated to pleats primarily displays technically made accordion-like dresses from past seasons. Exemplifying Miyake’s meticulous know-how is his Pleats Please collection, launched in 1993. The Carapace bag from the since-ongoing line — updated here with pastels for spring — is a small emblem of his creative ability to make fashion out of folds. Consider it a recent addition to his museum-quality works.
Pleats Please Issey Miyake Carapace bag, $525, isseymiyake.com.
