It’s Norway the homeland of a brand that, even in its name, reveals without surprises its undoubted roots: Norwegian Rain!

An unisex product, which in the apparent classicism of the forms combines basic features for both cold and rainy climates. The canvases, strictly made of recycled Japanese polyester, are simulating the typical texture of traditional materials, such as wool gabardine, and do not reveal highly sophisticated and modern properties, such as the inner diaphragm, which guarantees to each raincoat to be both breathable and waterproof. The sealed seams prevent the water from intruding into the fearsome joints, allowing a peaceful freedom, regardless the worst downpours.

It lies precisely in this discrete translation of the high-tech garment, usually characterized by colored zippers or improbable reflective graphics and relegated to the most technical sportswear sector, in an elegant outwear, the most fascinating aspect of this Norwegian reality.

Is the modernity of a northern European language sensitive to aesthetics, grateful to the Japanese formal knowledge which is easily traced in the ongoing article, the Raincho, a garment halfway between the cape and the development of the kimono. Contribute to the complexity of the calm lines, details such as generous interior pockets, with the purpose of sheltering the vulnerable accessories, from wallets to phones, adjustable caps in amplitude with composed webbing and buttons, small panels that can replace bulky scarves, concealed zip pockets, always useful to not soak the necessary and in case you want to give up the use of the bag.

Norwegian Rain faces the everyday life with real prospects, but also with an original determination to integrate with the most complex and creative proposals of the great contemporary designers!

Wide Norwegian Rain waterproof coat with the shape of a cape in recycled polyester cloth, lined in viscose and polyester cloth

Hip-lenght A punto B sweater in cashmere cloth

Wide lined Comme des Garçons skirt in polyester matelassè with floral tapestry

Mascha ‘classic Trippen’ ankle boot in cowhide leather

Altalen hat in felt 100% lapin

Knee-lenght Norwegian Rain waterproof coat in recycled cloth lined in viscose and polyester cloth

Long and wide Boboutic cardigan in polyamide and extra fine merinos wool cloth worked with irregular knots

Classic Comme des Garçons man shirt in cotton poplin

Classic Comme des Garçons – Comme des Garçons man trousers in wool gabardine, cupro lined

Dippy Trippen Shoe in smooth cowhide leather

Knee-lenght Norwegian Rain waterproof coat in recycled polyester cloth, lined in viscose and polyester cloth

Zucca longuette dress in stretch, nylon and alpaca

Mascha ‘classic Trippen’ ankle boot in cowhide leather

In the middle of the new Fall season, it’s a pleasure to return and to guide you in the discovery of the collections that gives form to our seasonal catalog. Returning to the good practice of introducing the new arrivals, we are starting with a new entry, the Swiss-Italian designer:

Elisa Wild

In absolute world preview, her work is hosted inside of our two places of belonging: online and in the Padua shop.

Elisa Wild stands out not only in the textile production, she also involves us in a detailed narration of her work and in the path that led her to be make clothes. With her own words…

“This adventure began, as is often the case, with a passion: a passion for textiles and the chance to work and shape them in the same way as sculpting a raw material. It was essential to make the materials and techniques in the project compatible, since every fabric responds to handling in a different way.

For many years, I have worked continuously on researching, studying and experimenting, in order to stimulate and inspire the design departments of the stars of the fashion world with sophisticated ways of working with textiles. But only now, with these dresses, has the dream that I have always harbored throughout my career come true: managing the entire creative, conceptual and technical process myself, right through to the finished product.

The project has therefore become a system in which the chosen fabric, the specific production methods and the entire process of constructing the object/garment merge to produce unusual, wearable effects. Finally, the ‘textile constructions’ for which we are known in the fashion world have become the dresses I have always dreamed of, as if the thoughts, ideas, whims and sketches in my myriad of notebooks found the right moment and means to take shape. Our workshop has left no stone unturned in researching and testing artisan techniques in its quest to achieve special effects with fabrics.

The BOLLE DRESS (bubble) owes its shape to a specific, extremely irregular hand-drawn design, which takes into account how the fabric will move as its form is reshaped by elastic. It is entirely handmade, and to a certain extent it is an empirical work… mass producing a process like this would certainly be a complex challenge to any manufacturer.

Those admiring the final garment may not appreciate how delicate the balance is between the effect produced by the shape of the dress and how it is made. This equilibrium stems from a careful study of the designs, proportions and procedures to create an item that epitomizes haute couture.

In the ORIGAMI DRESS, the concept underpinning the production — strips of fabric assembled three-dimensionally — and the cut of the garment were designed in parallel, and as a result the front of the dress is a compact modular system in which all parts are interconnected. In addition, the very dry and lightweight wool/linen canvas fabric chosen specifically for the dress can be doubled up, making it ideal for the origami-style folds. The resulting strength is an intrinsic part of the garment, within a simple yet sculptural shape.

For the NODI DRESS, a special design was created with a structure that runs vertically through the dress: a sort of comb with teeth made of small strips of fabric. Only when the sewing is done and everything is completely finished are these strips tied by hand, and the dress slowly takes shape, taking on its final appearance thanks to a spine of knots and bows that gather the fabric in at the sides. Truly a captivating design!”

A made in Italy learned, who knows to confront the most daring challenges of the great Japanese school, knowing, however, to defend and define its own creative authenticity.

In the middle of the Paris Fashion Week for the next Autumn/Winter, it should be reported an other very important acknowledgement to the designer who most was able to connect clothing to concepts as innovation, experimentation and research. On Saturday 5^th March, at Issey Miyake boutique of Rue Royale in Paris, it will be launched an unpublished monograph dedicated by the Taschen publishing house to the Japanese master and to his prolific and hyper-technologic  Design Miyake Studio, established in the 1970.

A book that, not by chance, is launched almost simultaneously with the exhibition that will be opened on the 16^th of March at the National Art Center of Tokyo, completely installed to celebrate the professional history and the cultural contributions introduced by the researches carried out during these years by the researchers team involved in Issey Miyake’s ambitious creative project.

A long, extensive tale of the different steps that have characterised of the well-known polyester pleating, today present in the most prestigious shops in the world with the bran new version called “Baked Stretch”.

The chromatic and formal possibilities opened by this innovative material manufacturing, so called ‘baked’ as the pleats take their aspects after a heath exposition process very similar to the one of the bread rising, reveal the maturity and the extreme autonomy gained by the excellent collaborators chosen by Issey Miyake, among them it’s not possible to not mention the Maison creative director, the young Yoshiyuki Miyamae.

Click here to watch the video.

For those who would not have the chance to participate to the Paris event, nor to go directly to Tokyo, they can anyway lost themselves in the different pages describing the vast and futuristic repertoire of the Japanese designer. In fact the book is already available on the Taschen website and in the next months it would be distributed by the libraries and by the authorized boutiques.

Reversible top and skirt .

Reversible dress.

Teamwork, environmental ethos, experimentation and strong pragmatism, light and joy, the guidelines of a Maison built around the enlightened principles of its founder, Issey Miyake.

Issey Miyake Autumn/Winter 2015-16: runway show finale.

Against the perishing and obsolete destiny of fashion, against the fact that clothing reduces itself to a simply instrument of status and wealth affirmation, Miyake firmly believes in the rational and spacial nature of dressing up. The dress exists in function of the physicality of whom will wear it, it’s bounded to people life and daily movement. So it must match innovation and comfort criteria, because our existences proceed into space and time.

Pictures from the Pleats Please Autumn/Winter 2015-16 catalogue.

In opposition to the ‘designer mythicization’, Miyake put together a team of experts that goes ahead and experiments through the continuous exchange of information and skills. In fact only the contamination of ideas and the flow of consciousness could generate that innovation levels already became exclusive heritage of Miyake Maison.

Machines at work in Miyake Design Studio: pictures from ‘Pleats Please Issey Miyake, published by Taschen.

The creative process starts trying to solve three fundamental problems: to minimise the industrial waste starting from just one piece of fabric; to give back the three-dimensionality of the human body through the fabric bi-dimensionality and to guarantee to the other people practicality, movement and an exclusive perception of the self. Inside this frame it has developed the engineering and textile experimentations that brought to the realization of the already very famous pleating. During four decades Miyake together with its staff tested new materials, invented formal abstractions only made possible by the infinite fabric plasticity and by the high-tech machines built up over time. With the different lines, from the one carrying his name that shows the most avant-garde and poetic experimentations of the new steam stretch pleating, to Pleats Please, to Cauliflower, developed in just one size, to the Bao Bao bags, where the triangle modular repetition is the remarkable sign of an highly futuristic project, or moreover the latest 132 5. Issey Miyake (available in our shop from next Spring/Summer), in recycled pet, pressed like origami paper, Issey Miyake and his Design Studio are ambitious guests of the most prestigious contemporary art galleries.

Issey Miyake Autumn/Winter 2015-16

132 5. Issey Miyake

So we can’t be taken away from point out, for whom will have the chance to be in Tokyo between next March and next June, the unmissable exhibition hold at the National Art Center:

MIYAKE ISSEY EXHIBITION: The Work of Miyake Issey

One of the most complete overview of Issey Miyake work and on the solutions, always in evolution, developed by his prolific creative team. And for the very first time the complex productive processes that allow the realization of the different expression of the most famous pleating will be shown and explained.

An overview from our catalogue Autumn/Winter 2015-16:

Issey Miyake calf-length coat in wool and polyester squares with a ribbon effect, shirt neck, two buttons closure, two welt pockets, lined.

Bao Bao Issey Miyake big squared shopper bag made by polish PRISMA PVC triangular plates repeated trough an origami calculation on a polyester base, double adjustable handles, big inner zip pocket, l 39 cm x h 39 cm.

Y’s Yohji Yamamoto tight leg jeans trousers in creased cotton canvas, 2 welt vertical pockets, 3 patch pockets on the back with and 2 overlapped, belt loops, zip and button closure.

Vivienne Westwood Mantero big scarf in very light new wool and silk gauze with Union Jack printing, small fringes along the edges, l 132 cm x h 100 cm.

Trippen ankle boot in soft cowhide leather with laces and stripes on a side, classic no-slip rubber sole with rounded toe.

Issey Miyake rectangular shawl in steam stretch pleated polyester and polyurethane with a kaleidoscope effect, buttons on the four points, wearable both sides and in many different ways, h 70 cm x l 130 cm.

Un-Namable long and asymmetric skirt in a paper effect polyester fabric, with pleats in different directions, with press buttons.

Trippen ankle boot in soft suede cowhide leather, with a comma elastic both sides of the ankle, with 2 shells sole.

Issey Miyake skirt in stiff and narrow pleated polyester with a crystal effect, elastic band at the belt, wide and flared line, two welt pockets, wearable as a cape.

Trippen ankle boot in soft suede cowhide leather, with a comma elastic both sides of the ankle, with 2 shells sole.

Issey Miyake ribbed steam stretch pleated polyester jacket, wide shawled lapels, fitted at the waist, button closure.

Issey Miyake wool and polyurethane crêpe stretch trousers with contrasting colour belt, two diagonal pockets, two welt pockets on the back, diagonal panel stitched on the front, two buttons and zip side closure, soft line.

Trippen ankle boot in soft suede cowhide leather, with a comma elastic both sides of the ankle, with 2 shells sole.

Issey Miyake straight pleated top with diagonal multicolour pattern, long bat sleeve, V neck, rounded hem.

Issey Miyake wool and polyurethane crêpe stretch trousers with contrasting colour belt, two diagonal pockets, two welt pockets on the back, diagonal panel stitched on the front, two buttons and zip side closure, soft line.

Issey Miyake long top in  melange narrow wave pleated polyester and wool, V neck, egg line.

A punto B low crotch and low waist trousers in heavy cotton, zip and button closure, wide and moulded slightly tightening at the bottom, two vertical welt pockets.

‘Classic Trippen’ ankle boot in oiled suede cowhide leather with strings and small hooks, removable cork insole, rubber sole.

Issey Miyake top in horizontal narrow and grained bicolour pleated polyester, wide and doubled cowl neck, diagonal pleating on the breast till the sleeve.

Issey Miyake large balloon trousers in narrow wave pleated polyester, tighter at the bottom, elastic band at the belt, two side welt pockets.

Issey Miyake squared shawl in stiff and narrow pleated polyester with a crystal effect, hole closure, h 80 cm x l 87 cm.

Issey Miyake hip-length jacket in stiff and narrow bicolour pleated polyester, single-breasted, lapels with detached points stitched on the neck, button closure, pointed sleeve on the cuffs, flared line.

Issey Miyake large balloon trousers in narrow wave pleated polyester, tighter at the bottom, elastic band at the belt, two side welt pockets.

Issey Miyake wide pea coat in  narrow wave pleated polyester with a multicolour optical effect, lapels, two buttons closure, ¾ flared sleeve, egg line.

Issey Miyake wool and polyurethane crêpe stretch trousers with contrasting colour belt, two diagonal pockets, two welt pockets on the back, diagonal panel stitched on the front, two buttons and zip side closure, soft line.

Issey Miyake short and wide jacket in horizontal narrow and grained bicolour pleated polyester, single-breasted, shawl and doubled neck, button closure.

Un-Namable long and asymmetric skirt in a paper effect polyester fabric, with pleats in different directions, with press buttons.

Trippen ankle boot in soft suede cowhide leather, with a comma elastic both sides of the ankle, with 2 shells sole.

Issey Miyake hip-length jacket in narrow wave pleated polyester with a multicolour optical effect, single-breasted with lapels, buttons closure.

Issey Miyake wool and polyurethane crêpe stretch trousers with contrasting colour belt, two diagonal pockets, two welt pockets on the back, diagonal panel stitched on the front, two buttons and zip side closure, soft line.

Trippen ankle boot in soft suede cowhide leather, with a comma elastic both sides of the ankle, with 2 shells sole.

Issey Miyake bolero jacket in tridimensional pleated polyester, shawl neck with semi-circular edges pleating on the inside, button closure, ¾ flared sleeve.

Issey Miyake wool and polyurethane crêpe stretch trousers with contrasting colour belt, two diagonal pockets, two welt pockets on the back, diagonal panel stitched on the front, two buttons and zip side closure, soft line.

Issey Miyake calf-length asymmetric dress in horizontal narrow and grained bicolour pleated polyester, wide and doubled cowl neck, diagonal pleating on the breast till the sleeve.

Trippen ankle boot in soft suede cowhide leather, with a comma elastic both sides of the ankle, with 2 shells sole.

Issey Miyake top in nylon and cotton A-poc bicolour fabric, asymmetric line, boat neck, flared sleeve, soften colours, frayed hem.

Issey Miyake stretch polyester and wool jeans-like trousers with small checks texture, two darts on the front, two side welt pockets, zip and button closure.

Trippen ankle boot in soft suede cowhide leather, with a comma elastic both sides of the ankle, with 2 shells sole.

Issey Miyake calf-length nylon and cotton A-poc bicolour tunic dress, ¾ sleeve, amphora line, boat neck.

Issey Miyake small bucket bag in bicolour stiff soften and shiny polyester pleating, origami shape with three-dimensional star effect, string closure, small leather shoulder strap.

Trippen ankle boot in soft suede cowhide leather, with a comma elastic both sides of the ankle, with 2 shells sole.

Celtic harsh resonances support the presentation of a simply great Yohji Yamamoto’s Autumn/Winter collection, in an alternation of folk melodies suggesting the thematic references chosen for the coming season. Resolute in going into all the possible connections between the sartorial work and the artistic dimension, the great Japanese master embraces a narrative bond with the artist Yasuto Sasada, where form and colour converge in the same figurative imagery.

In fact both, one through the study of the volumes and of the formal structures of the garments, the other with the chromatic ability of the drawing, offer an amazing representation of that syncretism, typical of the Japanese culture, between traditional and contemporary elements. Printings of archaic mythological figures, in metamorphosis with ultracontemporary pop and manga references, overlap themselves with the plentiful dimensions of the outerwear.

Shapes evocating ancient social roles, fully-developed and made up-to-date with absolutely more modern times, thanks to an efficient balance between the fabric selection, from the wool to the cotton canvas, and the cutting-edge movement of the forms in the ever-present Yohji’s black.

If the urban streets show off replicants suffocated inside all the same skimpy padded coat, Yohji Yamamoto challenges the lazy and atavistic trend to homologation offering the possibility to distinguish the self inside garments conceived as first works, not only never seen before, but most of all heralding of thought, ideas and respect towards who would wear them.

*All the pictures of the Backstage of Yohji Yamamoto A/W 2014-15 Fashion Show are by Elise Toïdé.

Yohji Yamamoto wide padded coat in heavy padded cotton, wide neck with hood, no buttons or zip closure, two vertical welt pockets.

Yohji Yamamoto classic twill trousers printed with artist Yasuto Sasada drawings, tight at the bottom, 2 front diagonal pockets and 2 welt pockets with small button on the back, zip and button closure, belt loops and inserted strap with buckle, lined.

Yohji Yamamoto wool gabardine coat with sewn padded scarf, crew-neck, high side zip, two horizontal pockets on the front, zip closure with double slider, wide line, lined.

Yohji Yamamoto classic twill trousers printed with artist Yasuto Sasada drawings, tight at the bottom, 2 front diagonal pockets and 2 welt pockets with small button on the back, zip and button closure, belt loops and inserted strap with buckle, lined.

Trippen black lace up shoes in vegetable-tanned calf leather treated with wax finish, wood wedge with para rubber sole.

Yohji Yamamoto jacket/shirt in printed twill with artist Yasuto Sasada drawings, high neck, double slider zip closure, raw cut outlines, upturned V side inserts in plain colour, under-sleeve with a long open band, 2 welt pockets.

Yohji Yamamoto man style trousers with low crutch in soft wool flannel, tight at the bottom, two diagonal pockets on the front, two flap pockets on the back, button and zip closure, belt loops.

Trippen black lace up shoes in vegetable-tanned calf leather treated with wax finish, wood wedge with para rubber sole.

Yohji Yamamoto wide coat in herringbone light twill in wool and polyamide, big padded neck, double slider zip closure, two welt side vertical pockets, but sleeve with opening and dropped panel, lined.

Yohji Yamamoto long dress in wool jersey and woollen cloth, slightly rolled up neck, two pockets with flaps on side panels, laid on top panels along the sleeves.

‘Classic Trippen’ ankle boot in bicolour cowhide leather, with strings and small hooks, removable cork insole, rubber sole.

Yohji Yamamoto cotton canvas long overcoat, single-breasted, hood, two symmetric vertical raw-cut stitchings on the front, two vertical pockets on the front, zip closure with double slider, metallic small unicorn and small bird of prey.

Yohji Yamamoto classic twill trousers printed with artist Yasuto Sasada drawings, tight at the bottom, 2 front diagonal pockets and 2 welt pockets with small button on the back, zip and button closure, belt loops and inserted strap with buckle, lined.

Trippen black lace up shoes in vegetable-tanned calf leather treated with wax finish, wood wedge with para rubber sole.

Yohji Yamamoto down pea coat in heavy cotton canvas, single-breasted, wide neck, 2 big patch pockets with 2 diagonal welt pockets laid upon them, longer on the back with upside down V central split, double slider zip closure.

Yohji Yamamoto long dress in wool jersey and woollen cloth, slightly rolled up neck, two pockets with flaps on side panels, laid on top panels along the sleeves.

Yohji Yamamoto short pea coat in cotton canvas and synthetic fur on the wide cushion neck and on the mittens, guru neck, double slider zip closure, 2 horizontal pockets with zip, padded collar badge, straight line, cotton lined.

Yohji Yamamoto long dress in wool jersey and woollen cloth, slightly rolled up neck, two pockets with flaps on side panels, laid on top panels along the sleeves.

Yohji Yamamoto jacket/pea coat in wool gabardine, doubled high neck, upside down V wool knitted side inserts, double slider zip closure. 2 side welt pockets, bat sleeve with opened under arms with dropped panel.

Yohji Yamamoto man shirt in cotton poplin with doubled trimmings folded near the neck.

Yohji Yamamoto man trousers with low crouch in soft wool and cotton tweed, tight at the bottom, two diagonal front pockets, two flap pockets on the back, closure with zip and buttons, belt loops.

Trippen high ankle boot in oiled suede cowhide leather with aged effect , double slider spiral zip around the ankle, staggered edging, removable cork insole, anti-slip rubber sole.

Yohji Yamamoto long dress in wool jersey and woollen cloth, slightly rolled up neck, two pockets with flaps on side panels, laid on top panels along the sleeves.

‘Classic Trippen’ ankle boot in bicolour cowhide leather, with strings and small hooks, removable cork insole, rubber sole.