HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE is returning with the second edition of OPEN STUDIO, this time in collaboration with Tate Modern. The project centers on a new capsule collection inspired by Henri Matisse’s 1953 work The Snail, translating the artist’s cut-paper composition into the brand’s pleated design language.
CAPSULE COLLECTIONS
The capsule will be presented on September 16, 2026 at Tate Modern, with the collection becoming available the following day, September 17, exclusively through the museum’s Terrace Shop and online store.
The idea developed after the HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE design team encountered The Snail during a visit to Tate Modern last year. The color, rhythm and sense of movement in Matisse’s paper cut-outs resonated with the brand’s own approach to construction, particularly its use of pleating as both a technical process and a way of shaping movement around the body.
Rather than simply reproducing the artwork as surface decoration, the collection takes its cue from Matisse’s method. After 1948, when ill health limited his ability to paint, the artist increasingly worked with brightly colored paper, cutting and arranging forms directly. The Snail emerged from that period and became one of the best-known examples of his late cut-out practice.
For HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE, that process aligns naturally with a design philosophy already built around transformation. Since its launch in 2013, the brand has developed garments through a pleating technique designed to create lightweight, wrinkle-resistant and highly adaptable clothing, with movement built into the structure of the fabric itself.
The London presentation will take place inside The Tanks, the cylindrical performance spaces at the base of Tate Modern’s Blavatnik Building. Once used to store oil during the building’s life as Bankside Power Station, the space now serves as one of the museum’s key areas for live art and performance.
For the event, the HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE team has invited a contemporary dance ensemble to create a site-specific interactive performance inspired by the making of The Snail. The performance will unfold within a scenography developed for the evening, bringing together clothing, movement and architecture.
That emphasis on dance is significant for the brand. Pleated garments by ISSEY MIYAKE have long been closely connected with performance because of the way they respond to the body in motion. The Tate Modern event continues that dialogue by placing the collection within a live environment rather than a conventional runway format.
OPEN STUDIO itself was conceived as a way for HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE to present its work outside traditional fashion contexts. The project takes inspiration from the idea of artists opening their studios to the public, creating more direct encounters between design, making and local creative communities.
This second edition expands that format through one of London’s most important cultural institutions. By building the project around Matisse rather than fashion alone, HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE positions the collection within a broader conversation around color, movement and process.
The capsule collection will be available from September 17 at Tate Modern’s Terrace Shop and through Tate’s online store.
