Reality Lab.Issey Miyake

Masaya Yoshimura

There are two street entrances to the store. Alongside one of th... Read More There are two street entrances to the store. Alongside one of them, a blue aluminum shelf displays several of the pleated light fixtures that Issey Miyake designed for the Italian manufacturer Artemide.

Masaya Yoshimura

... Read More The other entrance is a bright spot in the streetscape of Tokyo’s Aoyama shopping district. Miyake’s Homme Plissé menswear line, which combines heavy fabrics with the designer’s signature pleats, inspired Yoshioka to create textural contrasts between construction materials.

Masaya Yoshimura

The architects went through many color combinations before settl... Read More The architects went through many color combinations before settling on green and blue for the aluminum clothing displays, because, Yoshioka says, those colors “maximally evoke the texture of collections which will be contained at the store.” Blue racks are confined to the upper level.

Masaya Yoshimura

The lower level features green displays. Yoshioka’s office des... Read More The lower level features green displays. Yoshioka’s office designed the steel tables with the angled legs for Italian furniture maker Desalto. Known as Element, the series complements the sculptural, freestanding steel clothing racks deployed throughout.

Masaya Yoshimura

Yoshioka was interested in “incorporating the trace of time cu... Read More Yoshioka was interested in “incorporating the trace of time cultivated in the space,” he says. The view from the stairwell drives home, as Yoshioka says, “the contrast between the texture of peeled wall and futuristic, colored aluminum—the contrast between history and future.”