Issey Miyake's Spring Summer 1998 collection presented models walking barefoot in cocoon-like styles. A variation of neutral color palettes graced the runway at the shows beginning transitioning to a cascade of eerie shades of whites as the show drew to a close. The garments featured soft, light wrinkled fabrics that embraced the body. To the viewers eyes, the collection was a spectacle and in disguise, a creative play on textiles.
Miyake’s primary approach to design was always an ongoing experimentation of textiles. Spring/summer 1998 did not fall short of that. The knits in this collection were specifically patterned to mimic and accentuate the female torso through computer generated knit machines. Ramie linen, double layered dresses, were sewn as tubes and folded at the hem. Their inner layers were subjected to partial shrinking techniques, creating layers of two different textures.
Spring/summer 1998 was emblematic to Miyakes textile based design philosophy. The collection would serve as a precursor to his 1999, a piece of clothing (APOC) collection.
