From Pleated Fashion to a New World Vision?

Issey Miyake takes pleats seriously. He has an entire fashion line evolved from pleated crepe fabric. While the clothes are beautifully consturcted, innovative, and fresh, being in his tiny Soho store is enough to make your eyes long for a flat surface. I guess I didn't take him seriously enough (It's like writing of Shigeru Ban for trying to design buildings out of cardboard), because he just directed the Tokyo exhibit XXIst Century Man which looks like one of the more fascinating takes on modern culture I've seen.

The futuristic show stays in the mystical, and embraces what's to come as a source of energy and promise. Held in 21_21 Design Sight, Tadao Ando's 1 year old underground design museum, the museum touches on thhe dragons and serpents of Easten Mythology, and also delves into how industry has shaped our culture today. One of the more notable pieces is a chair designed by Nendo, out of Miyake's pleats, making the exhibition personal.

Directing an exibition that attempts to capture Zeitgeist is no easy feat. Although all 11 pieces in this exhibition were carefully chosen, perhaps a wider, more sporadic selection would have given a better sense of how we actually think of the future. Futurism is definitely back, in movies, in fashion, in styles, and materials. Perhaps it's a trend destined to reappear every few decades. Or, maybe with war hanging over us, the economic depression, and our forced isolationism while the rest of the world goes global, its nice to see the green grass on the other side. Either way, Miyake's future is a place I'd like to experience.