Issey Miyake Pleats Please Basic Madame-T Stole

This is the clearest statement of the Madame-T idea and the one that shows how far it goes. It is a large rectangle of pleated cloth with an opening cut through it, and the transformation is plain: slip your arms through and it stops being a stole and becomes a haori, the straight-sleeved open jacket worn over kimono. That is not a styling suggestion, it is a change of category. A scarf and a jacket are different kinds of object, and one piece of unstructured cloth here is both, with no fastening, no shaping, and no construction to speak of. The lineage is worth naming, because the haori is itself a garment built from straight panels with no tailoring, and Miyake’s studio arriving at one by way of a pleated rectangle with a hole in it is a very Japanese piece of reasoning arrived at by a very modern route. In black, with nothing to look at but the pleating, the shape is the entire content of the garment.

Why we selected it

It is the most versatile thing in the line and the best demonstration of what the house means by a garment being completed by its wearer. A rectangle that becomes a jacket is a genuinely good idea, and it is entirely unfussy to live with.

The Madame-T is among Issey Miyake‘s most enduring pieces, and it connects the studio’s pleating work directly to traditional Japanese garment construction, which builds from straight panels rather than from cut shapes.

Materials and construction

100% polyester, made in Japan, in black. Pleated, large, with an opening allowing it to be worn as a stole or as a haori-style jacket.

Sizing and dimensions

One size, and large. The pleating compresses it to very little and it opens to a great deal, so it can be worn close as a scarf or fully open as a layer.

Styling

Worn as a jacket it goes over almost anything and adds a long open line. Worn as a stole it is a black pleated accessory that suits everything. It is worth owning specifically because you do not have to decide which in advance.

Care

The pleats are heat-set into the polyester and are permanent, so it washes without losing them. Wash at 30°C or below in a laundry net on a short cycle, or press gently by hand, and never tumble dry, iron, steam, or dry clean. Store it rolled along the direction of the pleats. Our fabric care guide covers polyester and technical cloth.

Related pieces

The Photon Madame-T Stole and the Thermal Foods Madame-T are the coloured and printed versions, and the Basics Cardigan is the long open layer beside it in the line. Everything we carry from Issey Miyake is listed together.