The fashion industry has lost another icon. Japanese designer Issey Miyake has died, CNN Style reports. He was 84.
Miyake Design Office confirmed Tuesday that the designer died last week, on Aug. 5, of liver cancer, according to NPR. Miyake was well-known for creating "timeless pleats" and became internationally renowned "in the 1980s with avant-garde designs that those who could afford his luxury pieces immediately regarded as collector's items," CNN notes. His work is now "preserved at institutions including London's Victoria and Albert Museum, New York's Museum of Modern Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art."
Miyake's creations stood out to the point that they "defined an era in Japan's modern history," NPR adds, noting that the designer used computer methods "in weaving to create apparel." He also took inspiration from a "variety of cultures and societal motifs," all while sticking to his own basic concept.
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Born in Hiroshima in 1938, Miyake was serious when it came to what he saw for his brand. There were times when he "even detested being called a fashion designer, choosing not to identify with what he saw as a frivolous, trend-watching, conspicuous consumption," NPR writes.
With respect to Miyake's wishes, his office said a funeral service would be held with his family and close friends, but there would not be a memorial service.
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