MILESTONESMILESTONESIssey Miyake gave Nicolas a chance to
find his own signature through the design
of a store in New York City. The early
experiential retail environment connected
commerce with the conceptual.1999
PLEATS PLEASE
ISSEY MIYAKE NYC
‘I’d always wanted to work with Issey Miyake
for one reason,’ says Nicolas. ‘I’m interested in
different aspects of design: products, perfume,
architecture. Miyake unites these elements in
an incredible way. I wondered how one person
could have so much imagination. When you
leave design school you think you know every-
thing, but I realized I knew nothing. I thought
if I could work with Miyake, I could really start
to learn about design.’
Nicolas’s aspirations materialized
when his design of a Japanese temple caught
the eye of Miyake, who was surprised it was
the work of a foreigner. First came a small pro-
ject for Miyake in Paris – an opportunity for
the designers to feel each other out – before
the big catch: Pleats Please Issey Miyake in
New York City. Not Nicolas’s first retail project
- ‘but the first good one’ – the store gave the
designer a chance to find his own signature.
Obsessed with film for its ability to teeter on
the edge between reality and fiction, Nicolas
had first considered a career in art direction
before deciding it would be ‘more fun’ to
work with physical spaces. Pleats Please
Issey Miyake straddles both worlds.
A green cube sits at the heart of the
minimalist yet cinematic boutique, whose
glass shell is treated with a material that
makes it appear translucent from the front yet
opaque when viewed laterally. ‘People playfully
interact with the building,’ says Nicolas. ‘It
was a way of connecting commerce with the
conceptual.’
‘Experiential retail’ is now a buzz
term, making Curiosity’s 20-year-old project
seem as fresh today as it was back then.
Nicolas has been running with the theme
ever since, constantly researching how
responses to certain stimuli can influence his
commercial interiors. By pursuing new ways
to convey the emotional aspects of shopping- ‘a task that can otherwise become boring’ –
he says he’s able to show clients something
they won’t expect. ‘I learned that from work-
ing with Mr Miyake.’ »
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