Francis Giacobetti is a well-established French photographer and film-maker. Regarded as one of the greatest contemporary photographers of our time, with a fruitful career spanning fifty years, he is truly the master of visual sensitivity and refinement. His images are both engaging as well as captivating by their remarkable composition leaving onlookers mesmerised in afterthought.
He has been the recipient of prestigious photography and art direction rewards and his photographs have shown in some of the greatest museums in the world. After initially being appointed to photograph the Pleats Please campaigns by Japanese fashion house – Issey Miyake in the late ‘90s, Francis was asked to return in 2012 onwards to continue capturing images for the collections.
Now, the Prism exhibition, organised by Issey Miyake and held at the Klein Dytham-designed Cultural Centre, displays prints from various seasons of the Pleats Please line taken by Francis. The photographs reveal dancers posing in extreme positions such as jumping with outspread legs or balancing on one pointed toe in the pleated garments. The Pleats Please book stated:
“With dancers as his models, he was able to capture the changing expressions of Pleats Please with each dancer’s movement. This work culminated in a striking series, showcased Pleats Please’s radiant palette and prints.”
The Pleats Please womenswear range was first introduced in 1989 and was launched as an individual line in 1993. The brand’s website comments:
“this is a line that is positioned to embody one of the most fundamental concepts of Issey Miyake – where the true value of design lies in its integration into the everyday life and comfort of the wearer. This is clearly demonstrated in the development and evolution of traditional techniques of processing and of pleating material into a highly functional modern product – light in weight and easy to wear and handle.”
https://youtu.be/h05FrBUY81w
