'It became a mainstay': How Issey Miyake helped define Melbourne's style

One ​​evening during Melbourne Design Week, I was drinking hot prosecco in a dimly lit third-floor office overlooking Russell Street in the city center. A friend had asked me to accompany her to the opening of the exhibition held there. Of course, the office belonged to an architectural firm.

The crowd was styled in typical Melbourne fashion. There were black-rimmed glasses, workmen's jackets, and designer sneakers in every corner. But as I scanned the photographers and brand managers present, I realized that at least half the room had the floating, sculptural figures of Issey Miyake, easily recognizable by the tiny perfect creases that somehow give shape and take it away too.

Miyake passed away this week at the age of 84, leaving behind a tremendous legacy. He founded his studio in the early 1970s and was one of the first Japanese designers to present collections in Paris. He began experimenting with pleating in the late 1980s, eventually patenting the hot pressing technique that created permanent pleats in polyester in 1993.