The Pleats Please Flagship Is Set to Open on Kenmare Street on December 12
Issey Miyake has announced that its new Pleats Please flagship store at 14 Kenmare Street in New York’s NoLIta neighborhood is set to open on December 12. The store is located in the ground floor of architect Tadao Ando’s first building in New York and his first residential project outside Asia, a 2,224-square-foot structure at the corner of Elizabeth and Kenmare Streets.
The flagship is being designed by the Japanese design firm, Moment, and features 60 feet of frontage on Kenmare Street. The design concept is a mix of modern and industrial aesthetics, with strong lines characterizing the space. Concrete floors and walls, steel-pated lighting rails extended overhead, and white molded resin paneled walls mark the interior. The latter serves as a nod to the iconic pleats that exemplify the brand and its pleating process.
In celebration of the store opening, Pleats Please will introduce an exclusive new collection titled “Soil & Leaf” featuring pleated tops, skirts, and dresses, available only at this location.
The new flagship will accompany another Pleats Please store at 126 Prince Street in SoHo, which is planned for renovations in early 2025. These two establishments will be the only Pleats Please boutiques in the U.S, despite other branches in Toyko, Paris, and across Asia. The brand’s merchandise is also available in Issey Miyake flagship stores in Tokyo, Paris, London, Milan, Zurich, Osaka, and Kobe. Furthermore, there exists an Issey Miyake flagship at 119 Hudson Street in TriBeCa.
Pleats Please was first introduced by Issey Miyake in 1993, and quickly rose to prominence as one of the designer’s most successful ventures, owing to its uncomplicated shapes, innovative pleating techniques and prints, and travel-friendly designs.
The late designer started experimenting with pleats in the late 1980s following an exhibition of his work at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. In his book, “Pleats Please Issey Miyake,” he wrote, “After the exhibition, I became convinced that I had already accomplished everything that I could. And so I began to think about a new journey upon which to embark.”
At present, the Pleats Please collection spans from shirts and sweaters to dresses and jumpsuits in solid shades as well as patterns for women. The brand also offers a parallel in Homme Plissé, a men’s line built around the same pleat concepts.