<p>Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, whose global career spanned more than half a century, has died aged 84, an employee at his office in Tokyo told AFP on Tuesday.</p>.<p>"He died on the evening of August 5," she said over the telephone, without giving further details of his death and declining to be named.</p>.<p>Miyake's funeral had already taken place, with "only relatives participating" in line with his wishes, and there were no plans for a public ceremony, she said.</p>.<p>Public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media reported the news of his passing, with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and other outlets saying he had died of liver cancer.</p>.<p>Miyake -- who pioneered high-tech, comfortable clothing -- was part of a wave of young Japanese designers who made their mark in Paris from the mid-1970s.</p>.<p>His fashion house nurtured many talented young designers, and was known for innovative and dazzling catwalk shows.</p>.<p>After two years of showcasing collections online or with installations during the Covid-19 pandemic, the brand made its live comeback at Paris Fashion Week in June with a men's show featuring models, dancers and acrobats.</p>.<p>Born in Hiroshima in 1938, he was seven years old when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city in August 1945.</p>.<p>He survived the blast, which killed an estimated 140,000 people on impact and led to the end of World War II after the bombing of Nagasaki three days later.</p>.<p>"I have never chosen to share my memories or thoughts of that day," Miyake wrote in the New York Times in 2009.</p>.<p>"I have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to put them behind me, preferring to think of things that can be created, not destroyed, and that bring beauty and joy."</p>.<p>The designer studied at an art school in Tokyo, and moved to Paris in 1965, where he studied at the elite Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.</p>.<p>He established the Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo in 1970, and soon afterwards opened his first Paris boutique.</p>.<p>By the 1980s, his career was in full swing as he experimented with materials from plastic to metal wire and even artisanal Japanese paper.</p>.<p>Among his inventions were the "Pleats Please" line, permanently pleated items which do not crease, the futuristic triangles of his "Bao Bao" bag, and his "A-POC (A Piece Of Cloth)" concept -- using computers to cut whole garments with no seams.</p>.<p>He also made more than 100 black turtlenecks for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.</p>
<p>Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, whose global career spanned more than half a century, has died aged 84, an employee at his office in Tokyo told AFP on Tuesday.</p>.<p>"He died on the evening of August 5," she said over the telephone, without giving further details of his death and declining to be named.</p>.<p>Miyake's funeral had already taken place, with "only relatives participating" in line with his wishes, and there were no plans for a public ceremony, she said.</p>.<p>Public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media reported the news of his passing, with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and other outlets saying he had died of liver cancer.</p>.<p>Miyake -- who pioneered high-tech, comfortable clothing -- was part of a wave of young Japanese designers who made their mark in Paris from the mid-1970s.</p>.<p>His fashion house nurtured many talented young designers, and was known for innovative and dazzling catwalk shows.</p>.<p>After two years of showcasing collections online or with installations during the Covid-19 pandemic, the brand made its live comeback at Paris Fashion Week in June with a men's show featuring models, dancers and acrobats.</p>.<p>Born in Hiroshima in 1938, he was seven years old when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city in August 1945.</p>.<p>He survived the blast, which killed an estimated 140,000 people on impact and led to the end of World War II after the bombing of Nagasaki three days later.</p>.<p>"I have never chosen to share my memories or thoughts of that day," Miyake wrote in the New York Times in 2009.</p>.<p>"I have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to put them behind me, preferring to think of things that can be created, not destroyed, and that bring beauty and joy."</p>.<p>The designer studied at an art school in Tokyo, and moved to Paris in 1965, where he studied at the elite Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.</p>.<p>He established the Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo in 1970, and soon afterwards opened his first Paris boutique.</p>.<p>By the 1980s, his career was in full swing as he experimented with materials from plastic to metal wire and even artisanal Japanese paper.</p>.<p>Among his inventions were the "Pleats Please" line, permanently pleated items which do not crease, the futuristic triangles of his "Bao Bao" bag, and his "A-POC (A Piece Of Cloth)" concept -- using computers to cut whole garments with no seams.</p>.<p>He also made more than 100 black turtlenecks for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.</p>