The new Kyoto store of Issey Miyake’s A-POC fashion label is situated within a machiya-style residence.

Key features

Wooden townhouses characteristic of Japanese architecture, especially in Kyoto, machiya homes usually housed merchants and craftspeople. Historically, the fronts of these long buildings were typically used as a retail space, with living areas filling the back. Following along this tradition, Issey Miyake Inc. worked with Tokujin Yoshioka to transform a machiya into the newest outpost for its A-POC brand. 

The spatial concept references the same technology-meets-handcraft process used to make the clothes: A-POC, which stands for ‘a piece of cloth’, seeks to create garments that are dynamic and fluid with their wearers. The line’s innovative, patent-pending manufacture requires very minimal cutting and no sewing – each piece is truly a piece of cloth. Yoshioka’s clever design plays upon the simplicity and genius engineering of the production.

A-POC’s Kyoto store has an all-black façade with wide windows that accentuate the white interior. Inside, Yoshioka had the ceiling and beams painted black, which give a sense of limitlessness to the otherwise blanched space. The wearable pieces of art hang from moulded-aluminium racks that both highlight their linear geometry and complement that of the interior.

Frame’s take

This project’s spatial conversion bonds the craft and architectural culture of Kyoto with the A-POC vision – the result being a store that feels intuitively hyper-local and intimate. We think that the powerful contrast of black-and-white and the simplicity of finishes leave a powerful, resonating visual impact that’s simultaneously true to Kyoto and A-POC’s design heritage. Surprisingly, technology doesn’t need to be front and centre in the space for the visitor to understand its importance to Issey Miyake’s manufacturing process: the careful merchandising communicates that quite well, by inviting the customer to get up close and personal with the clothes.