Issey Miyake Pleats Please Sheer Wool Shirt

Fifty-seven percent wool in a line built on polyester is a significant departure, and it produces a completely different garment. Wool at this weight is warm without being heavy, it takes light softly rather than reflecting it, and it has a slight halo where a synthetic would be crisp, so the semi-sheerness reads as a haze rather than as transparency. The dolman sleeve is the right partner for it: cut in one with the body rather than set into an armhole, it removes the shoulder seam entirely, so the cloth falls in an unbroken line from neck to wrist and the softness of the wool is never interrupted by construction. A relaxed body completes it. There is essentially no tailoring anywhere in the garment, which is what lets the fibre do all the talking.

A semi-sheer wool is an unusual and lovely cloth, and the dolman sleeve is the construction that lets you actually feel it. For a garment from this line, it behaves remarkably little like a synthetic.

The Pleats Please line is associated with polyester, so a majority-wool shirt inside it is Issey Miyake's studio testing its own premise.

57% wool and 43% polyester, made in Japan, in black. Semi-sheer and lightweight, with a relaxed fit and dolman long sleeves.

Relaxed through the body, with dolman sleeves that give a great deal of room under the arm and drape from the elbow. Semi-sheer, which is worth planning for. It sits softly rather than holding a shape.

Being semi-sheer, whatever is beneath it is part of the garment. A plain solid keeps the haze of the wool readable. The dolman sleeve needs room, so it does not go under a fitted jacket happily.

Treat this as wool, because it mostly is: gentle handling, no agitation, no heat, and professional cleaning when it needs more than airing. Our fabric care guide has a section on wool and another on garments that are more than one material, and both are relevant here.

The Silk Wool Pleats Stole in the main line is another mixed-fibre piece that wants the same careful handling. Everything we carry from Issey Miyake is listed together.