Modern flagship stores function as media that convey the brand's experience and aspirational values through spatial experiences, transcending the role of mere product retail spaces. Despite this shift, spaces are often presented as striking scenes and...
Modern flagship stores function as media that convey the brand's experience and aspirational values through spatial experiences, transcending the role of mere product retail spaces. Despite this shift, spaces are often presented as striking scenes and symbolic forms, while the brand's accumulated concepts remain insufficiently manifested as the organizing principles of the space. Therefore, this study aims to present how brand values operate within the space, moving beyond the concept of flagship stores as simple product sales and display venues.
This paper examines the correlation between the body and clothing based on the origami techniques evident in ISSEY MIYAKE's fashion design, then extends this into the language of space and architecture and applies it to spatial design. In the fashion designs Issey Miyake has explored, origami and pleats are not merely about creating folded forms. Instead, a flat surface transforms into a different state through folding, and in this process, the wearer's movement and the garment interact and form a relationship. Thus, in fashion, when a garment meets an unspecified number of wearers, its silhouette is not a single definitive answer but constantly changes and is reconfigured. Extending Issey Miyake's concept into the language of space allows it to expand into principles governing movement and stillness, and the ever-changing scenes that emerge from the relationship between space and user experience. Thus, the Issey Miyake flagship store aims to be more than just a place showcasing the brand's image; it seeks to be a medium that conveys the brand's thinking and values through experience.
To apply Issey Miyake's perspective, expanded into the language of space as derived earlier, to this project, the following spatial composition rules were established.
1) When expanding Issey Miyake's perspective into the language of space, the concept that form is renewed within the user's conditions and movements is not merely expressed as a visual folding shape. Instead, it is a language that generates experience. The design criteria were set around what changes and how the user experiences that change.
2) To concretize this perspective, we analyzed cases where origami techniques were implemented. We categorized their actual operational methods into variable modules, pleated structures, and unfolded structures. Through this analysis, we confirmed that folding is not merely decorative; it creates structure and boundaries, generates scenes, and can be applied as a design language for user experience.
3) Based on the preceding analysis, this plan was organized into two elements: the‘WEARABLE SEQUENCE’, which guides the user's approach, transition, and stay experience; and the ‘FOLDING LANGUAG E’, where the principle of folding is applied as a common rule throughout the spatial composition not limited to specific layers but applied to the module combination method of the exterior envelope and the internal pleated layers. This can lead to the creation of new spatial experiences for users.
This research aimed to present the flagship store not merely as a backdrop for displaying products, but as a space where users could experience the ‘relationship between clothing and the wearer’a theme Issey Miyake has consistently explored. Origami folding techniques can be reinterpreted not merely as formal references but as methods for organizing structure and boundaries, light and sightlines, movement and dwelling. Furthermore, this approach is expected to transcend the limitations of repetitive visual presentations in brand spaces, opening possibilities for the brand's aspirational values to connect with the tangible experience of the physical space.