“Looking is not all there is to art.” Issey Miyake, the great designer of clothes, has passed away at the age of 84. We express our deepest condolences to his colleagues, family, and friends. Mr. Miyake was a friend and kindred spirit to Isamu Noguchi. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation of Japan, where he served as a board member. In the foreword to ‘Issey Miyake: Photographs by Irving Penn’ (1988), Noguchi described Miyake’s attunement to the novel and enduring: “I suddenly find myself in a time of exhilaration and an awareness of something new. In this I recognize Miyake Issey as an avatar. I see as I am sure others do that his is more than clever design or invention. I believe what he has done has more to do with a warmth and ease—a way of accepting and giving—a generosity that disarms ... In the city a new personality walked about me. But were they really changed? Perhaps we became what we appear to be. But with Miyake it is not only the young who may need this, but the old who clothe themselves with a relief.” — Quotes: 
Issey Miyake, “Message Beyond Space-Time,” in ‘Isamu Noguchi, Human Aspect as a Contemporary: 54 Witnesses in Japan and America’ (Tokyo: Shikoku Shimbun, 2002). Isamu Noguchi, “Foreword,” in ‘Issey Miyake: Photographs by Irving Penn,’ Nicholas Callaway, ed. (New York: New York Graphic Society Books; Boston: Little, Brown and Co. in association with Callaway Editions, 1988). Image: Irving Penn, ‘Issey Miyake,’ New York, 1988. Gelatin silver print. © The Irving Penn Foundation #IrvingPenn #IsseyMiyake #IsamuNoguchi #NoguchiArchives