Issey Miyake Pleats Please Leaf Pleats Dress

Almost all pleating is regular: a fold, repeated at a fixed interval, mechanical by nature. Leaf Pleats is the exception, and it is why this is the most expressive garment in the line. The folds here are shaped and irregular, closer to the veining and curl of a leaf than to a row of parallel creases, and the result is a surface with no repeating rhythm for the eye to lock onto. That irregularity is what produces the fluidity: a regular pleat swings as a unit, while an irregular one breaks up the movement into many small independent motions, so the dress appears to ripple rather than to sway. In black the effect is all texture and shadow, with no colour to distract from what the surface is doing.

An irregular pleat is considerably harder to set than a regular one, and it moves in a way a regular pleat cannot. This is the dress in the line with the most life in it.

Taking a signature technique and deliberately disordering it is a habit of Issey Miyake's studio, and Leaf Pleats is one of the more beautiful results.

100% polyester, made in Japan, in black. Pleated to a fluid, leaf-like texture.

Pleated cloth carries far more material than the flat garment implies and opens as it is worn. Because the pleating is irregular, it drapes less predictably than a regular pleat, which is the appeal.

The surface is doing everything, so nothing textured should go near it. Bare and simple around it, and let it move.

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.

The Light Wave Shirt is also built for movement. The hatching family in the main line, beginning with the Hatching Pleats Dress, takes pleating toward regularity instead. Everything we carry from Issey Miyake is listed together.