At the Centre Pompidou, ISSEY MIYAKE presented “Being Garments, Being Sentient,” a collection that explored what it might mean if clothing had its own intent. The garments seemed to act with a will of their own.
Trousers extended into sleeve-like panels that shifted how models carried themselves. A sharply cut jacket fastened off-center forced an asymmetric stance, while a tubular knit dress twisted and inflated as the model walked, moving as if alive. Wraps and structured faux leather grew around torsos, changing posture and silhouette, while jackets with displaced openings challenged the usual logic of dressing.
Other looks embraced play and accumulation. Netting stuffed with toys created bulk and shape, turning storage into design. Knitted tubular pieces unfolded in complex forms, as if morphing in real time. In a standout collaboration with Camper, some garments fused seamlessly with footwear, blurring the line between clothing and shoes.
The show carried added resonance at the Pompidou, which is set to close for five years at the end of this month for renovations. The idea of garments living on their own echoed against the backdrop of a space about to fall silent, underscoring the collection’s themes of transformation and impermanence.
The show was poetic and provocative. Not every look felt wearable, but imagining garments as sentient partners rather than simple coverings gave the collection its charge. It reframed fashion as a dialogue between body and cloth, suggesting a future where what we wear doesn’t just reflect us, but shapes how we move and live.