Fashion Designer Behind Steve Jobs’ Turtlenecks Dies Aged 84

The renowned Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake passed away on August 5. Miyake, 84, was famed for revolutionising pleated fabrics and sustainable production practices. Miyake died of liver cancer, per Kyodo News Agency, with the designer’s office confirming that a private funeral has taken place already.

In a statement released by Miyake’s fashion house, they wrote of his love of “the process of making things” and that “his spirit and joy, empowerment and beauty will be carried on by the next generations.”

Tributes from individuals in the fashion sphere have been flooding in, including that of Fedrico Salto, Vogue Italy’s fashion news editor. He described Miyake’s art as being “truly at the service of clothing” and that his “effort was dedicated to bringing technology and design together” made him “one of the few who knew how to combine creativity with [a] pure sense of reality.”

Among his many accolades, Miyake was also known for designing Apple founder Steve Jobs’ much talked about black turtlenecks.

Born in Hiroshima in 1938, Miyake was seven years old when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city during World War II. The designer was “reluctant” to speak about his survival for some time but wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in 2009 to share his vivid memories.

“I never tried to be defined by my past,” he wrote. “I did not want to be labeled as ‘the designer who survived the atomic bomb,’ and therefore I have always avoided questions about Hiroshima.” Instead, Miyake preferred “to think of things that can be created, not destroyed, and that bring beauty and joy.”