HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE S/S 2020 Paris Fashion Week Men's

Scene setting: In its first Paris standalone show last season, the revered label presented a fleet of dancers and gymnasts leaping through an athletic, recreational playground. For its second outing, the summer atmosphere was boosted by the shady trees and crisp gravel of the quaint Place De Vosges, a stone’s throw from the brand’s Paris offices. The mood was jubilant, upbeat and inclusive. The rain held off as Zalindé – an all-female Afro-Brazilian drumming troop – came on, beckoning guests to dance.  

Team work: The energetic show was choreographed by the American director Daniel Ezralow, who has already collaborated with Miyake on a number of projects. To mark the launch of the HOMME PLISSÉ line, the pair worked on the critically acclaimed ‘Flying Bodies, Soaring Souls’ show in 2013, which featured the male rhythmic gymnastics team from Aomori University. For S/S 20 Erzalow devised a performance called ‘A Walk in the Park’ — dancers moved through the seasons, catching the pace of park-life, from walking and musing to running around with a football. The clothes had an active, dynamic character, clear from every floating lapel and bouncing hem.  

Mood board: The HOMME PLISSÉ line uses Miyake’s pleating process pioneered in the 1980s, in which pleating takes place after the garment is cut-and-sewn into its final shape. The style is now synonymous with an intellectual, minimalist attitude, though Miyake’s clothes flatter all shapes and sizes. Guests in the audience wore his legacy in myriad ways. For S/S 2020, alongside the pleated trousers and coats were knitted track pants and roomy cotton Tees. Fresh iterations of the classic were revealed; a denim jacket shape was cut in the pleated fabric, a shirt extended to djellaba proportions and left open at the sides. Decoration was minimal. The clothes flowed like kinetic sculptures, spongy and elastic. Some had an optic print and others a dramatic, painterly style as seen on roomy kimono jackets. The line was layered in punchy colours. Magenta. Aquamarine. Burnt yellow.