Bodice

Issey Miyake’s plastic bustier, the finale of his autumn/winter 1980–81 collection, epitomizes the designer’s experiments with unorthodox, humble, and high-tech materials, from plastic and rattan to wire. The bustier subverts the idea of clothing as a covering separate from the body, and also departs from Miyake’s own design philosophy, based on the kimono’s structure, of leaving an intermediate space between body and garment (ma). This bustier molds to the contours of the female form, creating a second skin that transitions into a short peplum of fabriclike folds at the hips. It also metaphorically reimagines the female form as samurai armor, which likewise encased the upper body. Like the Yamamoto bustier nearby, the traditional undergarment has been transformed into an outer garment worn as an exoskeleton.





On view from October 22, 2022–February 20, 2023