Issey Miyake is dead. The Japanese fashion designer died of liver cancer on August 5, Kyodo news agency said. The Japanese made a name for himself, among other things, as the creator of the signature look of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (1955-2011). The entrepreneur is said to have once asked him to design his iconic turtleneck sweater, and Miyake reportedly gave him 100 of them.
Issey Miyake was born in Hiroshima in 1938. When the atomic bomb was dropped on his hometown, the then seven-year-old lost many family members. He later studied graphic design in Tokyo and presented his first fashion designs in the early 1960s. From 1965 he worked in Paris and worked as a designer for Givenchy, among others.
Just one year later he moved to New York and in 1970 he founded the Miyake Design Studio. He presented his label's first collection in 1971, and three years later his first store opened in Tokyo. In 1997, Miyake, who enjoyed international success, retired from active business. To this day, women's and men's clothing, accessories and perfumes appear under the brand name.
