irving penn and issey miyake: visual dialogue

american photographer irving penn and japanese fashion designer issey miyake had a deep creative understanding of each other's work.
the result of the cross-cultural collaboration is showcased in 'irving penn and issey miyake: visual dialogue',
an exhibit at 21_21 design sight tokyo. 

 

the artists first met in 1983 while penn was doing an editorial shoot for american vogue featuring miyake's clothing.
regardless of their cultural differences (or maybe because of it), each found a unique perspective in the other's work.
the result was a 13 year long collaboration which spanned from 1987 to 1999. miyake saw his designs in a new way through penn's
photographs. the images communicated the essence of the collection. through the photographer's lens, the texture,
shapes and forms went beyond clothing and instead transformed into art. to keep an unbiased view, penn never attended
an issey miyake fashion show, while miyake was never present at the photo sittings by penn. their collaboration was based
on complete creative trust. 

 

'through his eyes penn-san reinterprets the clothes, gives them new breath, and presents them to me from a new
vantage point -- one that I may not have been aware of, but had been subconsciously trying to capture.
without penn-san's guidance, I probably could not have continued to find new themes with which to challenge myself,
nor could I have arrived at new solutions.' - issey miyake (from irving penn: a career in photography, the art institute of chicago, 1997)









irving penn's photographs of issey miyake's designs being projected onto the screen
image © designboom  



still of looped photos during 9th minute 
image © designboom  



still of looped photos during 18th minute
image © designboom  


  

stills of michael crawford's sketches in an animation by pascal roulin
sketches © michael crawford 
photographs taken by designboom


outlining the creative relationship between the two artists, a 9 minute 58 second animation was directed by pascal roulin. 
it uses 19 original illustrations by cartoonist michael crawford to visually communicate the collaborative process; miyake designs the clothes, 
has a fashion show in paris, kitamura's travels to new york, the photo sitting by penn in new york, and finally, the poster creation. 
the original drawings are mounted along the hallway outside the projection room. 



'irving penn and issey miyake: visual dialogue'
drawings by michael crawford
editing by pascal roulin



issey miyake collection poster for spring/summer 1994
photography by irving penn. poster design by ikko tanaka
image © the irving penn foundation   

hallway lined with 67 posters created by ikko tanaka for issey miyake
image © designboom