Issey Miyake Physiotype Satin

A floral print in black and white behaves nothing like a floral print in colour. Stripped of hue, the flowers become shapes and the cloth reads as a graphic pattern, closer to a photogram or a botanical print than to anything decorative. That is the right register for this shirt, which is otherwise cut loose and plain. The one piece of construction that matters is a single pleat running down the back: it releases fullness through the shoulder blades in a controlled way, so the looseness of the body has a source and a direction rather than simply being volume. On a satin surface the pleat also catches light along its length, which gives the back of the shirt a defined vertical line against all that pattern.

A monochrome floral is far more wearable than a coloured one, and the single back pleat is the detail that keeps a loose shirt from reading as shapeless.

Print used structurally rather than decoratively is a recurring habit at Issey Miyake, and this shirt is a restrained example of it.

100% polyester, made in Japan, in black and white. A satin-faced cloth with a floral print, cut loose, with a single pleat down the back.

Loose through the body. The back pleat releases fullness across the shoulders, so it moves easily without needing extra width at the side. Button-up, so it can be worn open as a light layer.

Black and white takes any solid beside it, which is most of the appeal. Worn open over a plain top, the print becomes a frame rather than the whole event.

A satin-finished synthetic, so keep heat off it entirely; heat is what glazes a satin face and takes the light out of it. Wash cool. Our fabric care guide covers polyester and technical cloth.

The Pressed Flora Pleats Shirt handles a botanical print differently, and the Sleek Pleats Shirt is another shirt built around a satin surface. Everything we carry from Issey Miyake is listed together.