atelier oï and A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE sculpt lamps from wire and pleated cloth

Tomas Kauer - News Writer and News Moderator

atelier oï and A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE sculpt lamps from wire and pleated cloth

issey miyake and atelier oï arrive in copenhagen

In central Copenhagen during 3daysofdesign, a series of glowing textile forms fills the white rooms of Gallery 2112. Their silhouettes shift between lamp and object, appearing almost like gathered fabric suspended within delicate wire outlines.

Here, A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE presents the latest chapter of its ongoing collaboration with Swiss design studio atelier oï, continuing a conversation that began in fashion and now extends into lighting design.

Making its debut at Copenhagen’s annual design festival, the exhibition introduces new additions to the O Series, a portable lighting collection first unveiled during Milan Design Week in 2025.

Developed through the TYPE-XIII atelier oï project, the collection explores what can emerge from two simple elements: a piece of cloth and a piece of wire. The exhibition places that idea at the center, inviting visitors to handle the lamps and observe how different materials, colors, and textures shape the atmosphere around them.

issey miyake atelier oï
A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE presents textile lamps at Gallery 2112 in Copenhagen. images © ISSEY MIYAKE INC

from clothing technology to portable lighting

The collaboration between A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE and atelier oï grew from a shared interest in materials and making. While atelier oï is known for work spanning architecture, interiors, and product design, Issey Miyake’s experimental studio has spent decades investigating the possibilities of fabric through engineering and garment construction.

Their exchange moves that exploration away from the body and into the domestic landscape, asking how textile technologies developed for clothing might behave when transformed into sources of light.

At the center of the project is Steam Stretch, a textile process used within A-POC ABLE’s garment-making practice. Design elements are woven directly into a single piece of fabric before heat causes selected areas to contract, producing a three-dimensional pleated structure.

For the O Series, the resulting textile becomes a removable lampshade attached to an oval wire frame designed by atelier oï. The fabric can be detached and exchanged, allowing the lamp’s appearance to shift according to its setting.

issey miyake atelier oï
the O Series marks the brands debut at 3daysofdesign

inspired by wood and stone

The second iteration of the O Series draws its visual language from natural surfaces. New textile variations reference the textures of wood and stone, translating grain, layering, and geological patterns into woven fabrics that filter light in different ways.

Seen throughout the exhibition, the lamps take on a sculptural presence even when switched off, their pleated forms holding volume and shape within the thin metal outline.

Developed together with Japanese portable lighting manufacturer Ambientec, the lamps are designed to move easily between interiors. Their light output can be adjusted across four levels, ranging from a warm incandescent tone to a brighter daylight white.

This flexibility reinforces the project’s interest in adaptability, allowing the same object to perform differently depending on its surroundings.

issey miyake atelier oï
atelier oï shapes each lamp with an oval wire frame

extending the idea of a piece of cloth

For designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae, the project continues a line of inquiry that has shaped A-POC since Issey Miyake first introduced the concept of ‘A Piece Of Cloth’ in 1998. The original system proposed new ways of producing garments from a single continuous textile, reducing the distance between design, manufacturing, and use.

Within the O Series, that same thinking is redirected toward furniture-scale objects, where fabric becomes structure, surface, and light diffuser at once.

Presented during 3daysofdesign, the installation reflects a growing interest in design projects that move between disciplines rather than remaining within established categories. Fashion brands increasingly engage with furniture, lighting, and interiors, yet this project stays closely tied to the techniques that produced it.

The lamps emerge from the same textile experimentation that informs A-POC ABLE’s clothing, offering a glimpse of how material research can travel across different scales and uses while retaining its original character.

issey miyake atelier oï
Steam Stretch fabric turns a clothing technique into a luminous surface