Pleats Please Jacket

Issey Miyake launched Pleats Please in 1993 as a response to the demand for low-maintenance, travel-friendly luxury clothing. The permanent pleating process — where garments are pleated after construction by being sandwiched between layers of paper and heat-pressed — creates a textile that is simultaneously high-tech and ancient. The process was developed with Japanese manufacturing partners and cannot be easily replicated. Pleats Please changed how the fashion industry thought about synthetic fabrics. Early 1990s pieces: $400–$1,500.