11/1/19: I am a sucker for a good fashion show, but this one ditched the runway in favor of something much more spectacular. While the ISSEY MIYAKE Spring Summer 2020 show purports to be a fashion show, it feels much more like a dance performance or maybe performance art. The choreography is at times unstructured and at other times clearly minutely planned. It’s performed by models (many whom are also dancers) who waft and jump and spin and even fly around, beautifully showing off the movement of the (often bizarre) clothes.

The very interesting music is performed live by French singer/electronic musician DeLaurentis. It runs the gamut from abstract, bliss-out music that reminds me of Enya to a vocal version of Ravel’s Bolero.

For the show, ISSEY MIYAKE’s new design director Satoshi Kondo created a line that’s equal parts high-end loungewear and unwearable silliness, but somehow it all works, at least in the context of this performance. At least it all looks very comfortable! And very, very Japanese.

“I wanted to express the joy of wearing clothes and the joy of movement. So you see the models dancing, almost like in the wind, moving together.”

– Satoshi Kondo

As entertained as I was by the fashion and the theatrics, I was most struck by how much fun the models seemed to be having. Their face-splitting grins at the finale were clearly genuine. As much as I love avant garde fashion shows, it’s a real joy to see young people getting to behave like young people!

You can see all of ISSEY MIYAKE’s amazing products on the brand’s website and on Instagram and Facebook.