Text by Francesca Gavin

Japanese artist Eugene Kangawa was invited by the designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae at A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE for a collaboration pushing the possibilities of textiles. Here both discuss the how, what and why of this beautiful project that took three years to realise which launches with an exhibition in Paris this week. 

⁠What drew you to Kangawa’s work?

Yoshiyuki Miyamae: The relationship between light and shadow” inherent in Eugene Kangawa’s work deeply resonated with what we have been exploring through fabric and clothing. Mr. Kangawa’s latest work, Light and shadow inside me, engages with a fundamental question: light itself paints the picture, and shadow proves its existence. This concept resonates with how fabric emerges from the intersection of threads, and how clothing only truly comes alive when it embraces the body and light. In Mr. Kangawa’s work lies the strength to generate new forms of expression from the simplest elements. We were drawn to this purity, and to the “living expression” that transforms over time and in response to its environment.

Can you summarise what the collaboration is?

Eugene Kangawa: I feel that this collaboration was perhaps less about clothing itself and more an exploration of new textile possibilities. Inspired by my work, the Issey Miyake team developed a method of expressing gradations solely through the interweaving of two threads—black and white—at a microscopic level, without the use of printing or dyeing. They described this process as unprecedented, suggesting that, in a sense, they had woven a new language.

How does the collaboration as a product also work as an installation? 

Eugene Kangawa: The installation and curation for this project are being led by Tsuyoshi Tane, a Paris-based architect whose practice is grounded in an archaeological inquiry. He has approached this collaboration with the same depth and perspective. Under his direction, the exhibition will present the works and textiles alongside more than fifty objects—tools and motifs related to the collaboration—including an extremely rare original Edo-period book on origata (Japanese ceremonial paper folding), which remarkably contains folds strikingly similar to those found in my photogram works. In this sense, the exhibition carries the quality of a research endeavour paired with an intuitive sense of intrigue. I look forward to seeing how my work, translated into textile and exhibition, takes shape in space.

Will there be other future art projects with the brand? 

Yoshiyuki Miyamae: We plan to continue developing art projects as a brand. At A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE, we regard clothing not only as “tools for daily life” but also as “a medium that expands human imagination.” Dialogue with art is an essential opportunity to broaden this potential. Art has the power to stir thought and sensation, provoking questions in those who encounter it. Sharing this process enables the brand to open new pathways for fabric and clothing, while offering audiences an opportunity to reconsider the very meaning of “wearing clothes.”