When Air Becomes Design: ISSEY MIYAKE Spring/Summer 2027, Giving Shape to the "Ma"
Air flows within, and garments change form with every movement!
Summary
- The ISSEY MIYAKE Spring/Summer 2027 collection is themed "Figure of Ma."
- Drawing from the Japanese concept of "Ma," the collection explores the invisible space between fabric and the human body.
- Air enters the space between garment and body, allowing clothing to shift form with movement.
- The design team used a massive piece of fabric, roughly 10 x 10 meters, to observe the interaction between fabric, the human body, and air.
- Clothing no longer fixes the body's silhouette; instead, "Ma" becomes an integral part of the design.
It might look like there is nothing between a garment and the body, but for ISSEY MIYAKE, that space is exactly where design begins. For the Spring/Summer 2027 collection, titled “Figure of Ma,” Creative Director Satoshi Kondo shifts his focus away from the clothes themselves, turning instead to the invisible “Ma” between the fabric and the human form. As the body moves and air enters, the fabric expands, sways, and falls, giving shape to a space that was once formless.
What seems like nothing is never truly empty
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The Japanese concept of “Ma” is difficult to define simply as “space” or “emptiness.” It can be a pause, an interval, or the space left between two objects. It might look like nothing is there, but the existence of this “Ma” is exactly what connects surrounding elements. Satoshi Kondo brings this concept to clothing this season. When fabric meets the body, a space naturally forms between them. Air flows through it, allowing the garment to constantly change shape as the wearer moves.
Starting with a massive 10 × 10 meter piece of fabric
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In the early stages of designing the collection, Satoshi Kondo and his team took a massive, lightweight 10 × 10 meter piece of fabric and let it float and fall freely in the studio. They observed how it touched the body and captured air. Setting aside the traditional cuts and silhouettes of dresses, jackets, and pants, they focused only on the primal relationship between the body and the fabric, rethinking exactly how a garment comes to be.
Images from ig / @isseymiyakeofficial
Refusing to confine the body to a single shape
Images from ig / @isseymiyakeofficial
As a result, this season’s clothing doesn’t try to lock the body into a specific silhouette. Instead, it deliberately leaves room for the body, the fabric, and the air to move. As the wearer walks, the clothes take on different forms. They are no longer just objects wrapping the body, but rather a space that continuously changes alongside the person and the air.
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