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‘Unpack the Compact’ S/S21 collection, by Issey Miyake

Before the Covid-19 pandemic put a pause on travel, seasonal Fashion Weeks saw swathes of editors and crates of clothing freewheel across the globe. This mass movement was a concern for Issey Miyake’s designer Satoshi Kondo, who shipped numerous boxes of clothing from Japan to Paris for the label’s A/W20 womenswear show in February last year. Serious about streamlining, Kondo has now succeeded in packing the entire S/S21 collection into one wooden shipping box. The brand’s clothing is famed for its functionality. Its lightweight Pleats Please pieces can be scrunched into suitcases and emerge crease-free, and they dry quickly after washing. For Issey Miyake’s S/S21 collection, Kondo has created pieces that can be folded, stacked, tied and rolled, ensuring they’ll need little space not just in a shipping box, but in your drawers, too. Zigzag-pattern knitted garments stretch out like sponges; lightweight, water- and wrinkle-repellent coats can be folded and transformed into bags; biker jackets can be zipped up into smaller 3D forms; and vests mould like shells around the body. Kondo was also intent on bringing a new sense of joy to unpacking, as compact bundles open up to reveal their design details. Boxed or worn, his cleverly constructed clothing is certainly a delight, and proof that good things come in small packages. isseymiyake.com

All 41 looks of Issey Miyake’s S/S21 collection fit into a single wooden shipping box. Included are items that roll, fold and zip away, becoming bags or pouches; others that have loop-edged composite parts designed to be strung together; as well as a form-hugging moulded vest