From Bao Bao to Pleats Pleats, geometric experimentation plays a central role in Issey Miyake’s artistic output. The brand possesses an almost abstract perspective on fashion manufacturing, a designer ethos that, one can imagine, is unshakably connected to the question, “How can we do something no one has really done before?”

And once again, Issey Miyake is returning to this same question. Alongside their Autumn/Winter 2026/27 collection, themed “Creating, Allowing,” the Japanese label has announced a special exhibition, set to take place on September 1st in Japan. The display will serve as a complementary showcase to a series present in the collection, Urushi Body.

Inspired by both the obi, a sash commonly worn with a kimono, and the bustier, Urushi Body is perhaps more sculpture than fashion design. The pieces are created through a process of tearing a type of paper called washi and laying it onto a 3D-printed mold. Craftspeople then paint red lacquer over the sheets of washi, creating a unique material with both the rigidity of a bustier and the softness of a simple sash.

Central to Urushi Body is – surprise, surprise – the body! The project engages quite intimately with the natural formation of the body, with even the structure of each piece replicating the human form: possessing a hard inner mold, as a skeleton, and the soft washi layered on top, as flesh. Intentionality, as it often does, leads to hyper-polished products, and if there is anything the products of Issey Miyake do not lack, it is an intentional creator.