Issey Miyake, the inventive and influential designer whose work was celebrated worldwide, has died.
As the Associated Press reported, citing a Miyake Design Office statement on Tuesday, the designer died on Aug. 5 due to liver cancer. Noted in a separate report from Women’s Wear Daily is that Miyake was “surrounded by close friends and associates” at the time of this death. He was 84. According to a rep, a private funeral service already took place. Per the designer’s wishes, no additional ceremonies will take place.
In addition to the revered L’eau d’Issey perfume from his Issey Miyake Parfums label, the Japanese designer and all-around creative was known for an extended catalog of future-forward pieces, including his wholly unique and origami-style pleat designs.
Issey Miyake was also the designer behind the late Steve Jobs’ once-ubiquitous black turtleneck, which he routinely wore to unveil new Apple products and which became part of a larger attire-based symbol for the fellow creative.
“That’s what I wear,” Jobs, who died in 2011 at the age of 56, once told biography author Walter Isaacson of the turtlenecks. “I have enough to last for the rest of my life.”
Other known appreciators of the designer’s work included the late Robin Williams, among others. Williams, as seen in photos that routinely resurfaces to great acclaim on Twitter, famously wore an Issey Miyake cargo bomber on the red carpet for the New York City premiere of his 1997 comedy Flubber.
Appreciators of Issey Miyake’s work shared memorial messages on Tuesday following word of his passing. See a selection of tributes, including memories of some of the designer’s most impactful creations, below.
RIP.
