AW04 Issey Miyake x Aya Takano ‘Superflat’ Mini Roller Suitcase

For Issey Miyake’s Autumn 2004 collection, the Japanese designer worked in collaboration with Aya Takano, a similarly Eastern painter and Superflat artist. Originally an assistant to Takashi Murakami, Takano would aid in popularizing his signature ‘Superflat’ aesthetic throughout the 2000s. The obscure art from aims to push focus on the two dimensionality of figures, while exposing the fetishes of Japanese consumerism. More specifically, Takano’s work fixates on Japan’s 1980s obsession with the look of pre-pubescent girls, in which she hopes to reinvent. Using semi-nude or nude pre-pubescent figures in many of her prints, the creative attempts to illustrate the impact of a heroine in society. Looking through the female gaze, she denies any relation to the sexualization of these girls, and instead pushes onlookers to focus on their androgynous signs of growth. Putting such prominence on the future, her dream-like style hopes to embrace the child-like spirit in an authentic way, while shifting the overarching narrative towards the female gender.

 

Debuting in the Autumn of 2004, this mini roller suitcase portrays one of the largest canvas’ for Takano’s work. Coming in the ultra-rare purple colour way, the artisan’s nude figures are pictured floating effortlessly through space, in the forefront of what appears to be Earth. Coating all four sides, the graphic leaches towards the upper, where a series of sketches are found in colourful turtles and flowers. Purple leather accenting runs along the suitcases’ perimeter, alongside the handle and tags. To finish, metallic hardware clasps the bag, found on the interior as well, in pristine condition throughout.