Baked to perfection

Paris – Forward-thinking fashion label Issey Miyake has developed an oven-baked womenswear collection.

• Tops and dresses in the spring/summer 2016 collection are cut from a fabric that reacts to heat
• An accompanying video celebrates the simplicity of the Baked Stretch technique

The process involves marking the fabric with wavy lines of glue to form horizontal or vertical stripes and applying coloured dye to the spaces in between. The garments are baked in an oven before a final dye is added to colour the remaining white sections. The resulting pieces are soft, colourful, intricate and flexible. ‘We made this material 3D to enable people to see movement,’ head of womenswear Yoshiyuki Miyamae told Reuters.

Issey Miyake presented the collection as part of its Botanical Delights show at Paris Fashion Week. Pleated tops, block jackets and pencil skirts in aquamarine, dark pink and coral shades created a bold, punchy and joyous aesthetic.

The fashion house is no stranger to innovative production methods, having developed a 3D Stretch Seam technique in 2014 that uses computer software to create subtle fabric compositions.