In 1999 Issey Miyake passed the baton to Naoki Takizawa as the new chief designer of the brand. Just a year after, in 2000, Takizawa, in partnership with japanese artist Takashi Murakami, launched a menswear collection inspired by Murakami’s art motives. This collection was the start of a new era for Murakami as it was his first collaboration with a big fashion house.
In this collection we find a selection of reversible jackets and pants. Worn on the regular side, it shows a sober and mature look but if you wear it inside out, there’s a colorful and vibrant pattern that includes Murakami’s work elements.
For us, the most beautiful piece from the collaboration is the parka jacket and pants with the Mr. Dob eyes print all over the garment. Mr. Dob is one of Murakami’s first and more recognized works of art.
The hand painted slip-ons are a really interesting piece too. Only 1 or 2 pairs per color were released (White, green and blue). A good alternative to these are the Vans x Takashi Murakami collaboration, probably inspired by the Issey ones because they are slip-ons too.
Written by @victorespadas
We recommend you to check this video, concretely from min. 9:19 where you can notice the reversible garment we have talked about.
