Issey Miyake Silk Wool Pleats Stole

A stole is mostly surface, so what the surface does is the entire garment. Pleating this one generously means it carries far more cloth than its worn dimensions suggest, and the folds give it volume and dimension rather than letting it lie flat across the shoulders. The blend is the interesting decision: seventy percent polyester carries the pleating, but the twenty percent silk and ten percent wool change what the thing feels like against the neck, adding a softness and a slight warmth that pure synthetic pleating does not have. Midnight navy is deep enough to read as a neutral and blue enough not to be black, which on a piece worn near the face matters more than it does elsewhere.

Pleated stoles are usually all polyester and feel like it. The silk and wool in this one are the difference between a graphic accessory and something you actually want against your skin.

Pleating is the Issey Miyake signature, and applying it to a blend rather than to pure synthetic is a less common and more tactile version of it.

70% polyester, 20% silk, and 10% wool, made in Japan, in Midnight Navy. Generously pleated for volume and dimension.

One size, as a stole is. The pleating means it compresses small and opens large, so it can be worn close and narrow or spread wide across the shoulders. Its behaviour depends almost entirely on how much of it you choose to open.

Navy against black reads as a deliberate near-miss rather than a mistake, and against ivory or grey it is straightforwardly handsome. It is substantial enough to be the only accessory.

There is real silk and wool in this, so the pleating should not be assumed permanent the way it is on a pure synthetic. Handle it gently, keep it away from heat, and treat it as a mixed-fibre piece. Our fabric care guide is the place to start, and the silk and wool sections both apply.

The Wool Gabardine Pants are also cut in a natural fibre. The Madame-T stoles in Pleats Please are the pure polyester approach to the same object. Everything we carry from Issey Miyake is listed together.