Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison

Issey Miyake Madison is a project for the Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake on Manhattan’s Madison Avenue. It consists of an interior renovation and a new façade on this historic and exclusive shopping street. The design breaks the threshold between the sidewalk and the world of Issey Miyake. The flush clear glass façade creates a seamless barrier from which the volume of the shop is extruded. The 2,600 square foot volume terminates in a mirrored wall to create the effect of space extending without end. A video projector and a retractable screen is deployed as an alternative to the rear mirror. The effect is reproduced through electronic means with live video of the fitting area projected on the screen to extend the space electronically. Quadrant located surveillance cameras allow customers to see themselves from all perspectives on the screen. Alternatively, this apparatus displays video of the designer’s collections or commissioned video artwork. The entire shop becomes a giant store window with mannequins dispersed throughout the entire depth of the space. I-section steel columns inherited from the 1960’s era residential building above are the only interruptions to the volume. As the columns dance through the space with slight misalignments, they appear casual. A stretched checker-board pattern of light boxes in the ceiling meanders around these columns adding a figural element to the volume. The clothing is organized along one long wall to give a strong splash of expression to an otherwise understated white-washed space. This allows the collection to be the focal point of the experience. The façade frame is clad in black Corian with a milled debossed logo of the designer.