ISSEY MIYAKE

Japanese fashion brand Issey Miyake, already present in the city with a flagship store on Brook Street in Mayfair, has recently upped its stake in the local retail scene by opening an additional retail space. Situated further down the road from the brand’s main store, the boutique occupies three floors, including a basement section, and sees a renewed collab with acclaimed Tokyo-based designer Tokujin Yoshioka.

 

Issey Miyake Mayfair, W1

 This new retail outlet, which covers nearly 5,400 square feet of space over two levels with nearly 65 feet of shop front windows is located at 10 Brook Street, not far from Issey Miyake’s other London store, entirely dedicated to the Pleats Please line and located at n° 20 in the same street, where the house’s offices are also found.

 

The narrow and elongated floors feature an ingenious design that’s based on the concept of ‘floating sculpture and clothes’. Captured in black and white palette, each floor is fitted out with a cutting-edge triangular steel powder coated hanger rail which displays Issey Miyake’s apparel pieces as if they were floating in mid air.

The opposite wall is clad floor-to-ceiling with slabs of mirror, optically enlarging the setting. Additional furnishings comprise of displays and shelving in glass and sculptural ottomans.

 

Spilt over two levels, the new 465-square-metre store houses the Japanese fashion brand’s signature pleated garments and geometric-patterned bags across its various womenswear, menswear and accessories lines.

 

The design involved stripping out the fittings inside the lower two floors of the 1950s building, which were previously occupied by a bank, and leaving walls and columns bare. To contrast the structural elements, bright blue aluminium panels are used in strips around the edges of the space to highlight display areas.

 

A doglegged staircase positioned in the centre of the floor plate is surrounded by glass balustrades, to allow light from the street-facing facade down into the basement.