Special Re-edition Model:IM-101
STORY
What is "IM-101"
"IM-101" is Sunglasses released in 1985. The combination of simple figures of "one line" and "two circles" was as clear as graphic design, and made a strong impression as Issey Miyake's Eyewear at the time. More than 30 years after its birth, its dignified appearance still sends a powerful message.
Birth of a special reproduction model
In the spring of 2017, ISSEY MIYAKE EYES project embarked on a plan to reproduce this design. In the absence of design data, we started work to faithfully reproduce the design at the time based on a few materials. After repeated trial and error, it was decided to adopt titanium material as a modern spec. As a result, the special reproduction model "IM-101" with improved weight reduction, suppleness and rigidity was born.
It all started with art photography
The original version "IM-101" was recorded as the subject of a photographic work. Sunglasses worn by Jean-Michel Basquiat, who appeared like a comet in the New York art scene in the 1980s, in the series "DOCUMENT" by New York-based photographer Henry Leutwyler. Jean-Michel Basquiat's Issey Miyake sunglasses”). In the spring of 2017, it was opened to the public at the gallery The Mass in Harajuku, Tokyo, where designer Yusuke Takahashi encountered "IM-101" through his photographic work. And rather than layering nostalgia and the past on this design, I felt the power of design that leads to the present and the future. The development of the reproduction model began in this way.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Issey Miyake sunglasses ©Henry Leutwyler 2008
In the photograph “Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Issey Miyake sunglasses” one can clearly see the artist’s worn marks: the missing nose pad, the scratches on the metal frame, and the discoloration on the temple tip. The photograph seems to convey the humanity and warmth left behind by Basquiat in the glasses. And through Leutwyler’s lens the creative energy of the time that Basquiat once lived becomes apparent. As a photographer who delivers work with a riveting aesthetic, Leutwyler participated in the project and photographed the re-edition model. Therefore like this two pairs of IM-101, one original and the other re-edition, 30 years apart, have been captured in Leutwyler’s frames.
Henry Leutwyler ©Sharon Suh
Henry Leutwyler
Born in Switzerland in 1961. He studied photography by himself and has a deep love for the medium of photography. Instead of following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, who are print craftsmen, he traveled and learned about the cultures and colors of countries around the world through his own lens. After studying under photographer Gille Tapie in Paris in 1985, he began working as a news photographer. In 1995, he moved to New York City, where he remains today.
Celebrity portraits have been published in magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Esquire Magazine, and Time. Ballet: Photographs of the New York City Ballet" and latest work "DOCUMENT" (all published by Steidl). In addition to holding solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York, Madrid, Moscow, Zurich, and Tokyo, he opened a museum in Switzerland in 2017.
of Fine Arts Le Locle”, exhibited works from the photo book “DOCUMENT” and held a solo exhibition for four months.
Rootweiler's photographs have been evaluated for their style of drawing out the essential beauty from the quiet appearance of the subject, as if to argue against the over-processed and glorified photographs that are mainstream today.
DOCUMENT
“DOCUMENT”
This book is a collection of belongings of famous people in history such as James Dean’s wallet, Audrey Hepburn’s typewriter, Muhammad Ali’s boxing shoes, Elvis Presley’s handgun, Michael Jackson’s gloves, etc. Having already established himself as a celebrity portrait photographer, in DOCUMENT Leutwyler attempted to photograph portraits of objects with their owners absent.
