Business tips from Issey Miyake

A few weeks ago, the Philippine Star's Y Style sent me on a mission: to find out about Issey Miyake's newest scent. Reflections in a Drop is the designer's limited edition take on his classic fragance, l'Eau d'Issey, which was introduced sixteen years ago and continues to remain a classic favorite. To my surprise, I didn't just learn about the perfume. Thanks to Jean Marie Eudes, Issey Miyake's Asia Pacific Trainer, I got to learn about the designer himself, and the ideas behind his creative process. As a result, I ended up learning a thing or two about how a creativity-driven business could be run. Oh, and the perfume smelled really lovely, too. Here's a look into what makes Issey Miyake tick: Try everything out “A lot of people know Issey Miyake not as just a fashion designer, but also through his fragrances, which are famous worldwide. But Mr. Miyake is more than that. Mr. Miyake is an artist. He is involved in a lot of projects: in fragrances, in fashion, and also in architecture and photography,” Eudes says. He is an example of someone who doesn't limit himself to one thing, but finds opportunity in everything that comes his way, no matter how unrelated it may seem to his specialty. I mean, how often can a fashion designer say that he's helped design a vacuum cleaner? But we'll get to that later. It's all in the (brand) name “Something interesting is that Miyake in Japanese means 'three houses' and Issey means 'one life' or 'a life' and it is quite fortuitous because a creative world is built around three houses in a way.” Not all of us have the good fortune to be named after luck-bringing elements, but we do have the power to remake our 'name,' be it via the company we work for or the name of the business we put up. No one knows what makes a band click, but we do know that if anything, its name should be catchy. Embrace the unknown Issey Miyake's creative process can be divided into three 'houses.' The first is the House of the Unexplored. “This is the house of the discovery of new ideas. It is the research for innovation. Mr. Miyake does not like to copy, he likes to reinvent things, he likes to create new things, he likes to surprise the people. That's why he will never repeat himself in his creations. This is good for fashion and fragrances.” Innovators are people who break away from the pack. They take a good thing and make it better. They research. They find. By embracing the unknown, one uncovers little untapped niches, veins of gold yet to be mined. In other words, doing your homework on a venture makes your success in that area more probable. Two heads are better than one Next comes the House of Meeting. “Mr. Miyake loves to (collaborate), to meet new people. He likes to exchange new ideas.” For his latest fragrance, he teamed up with perfumer Alberto Morilla, the nose behind scents like CK One and Flower by Kenzo. He's also collaborated with James Dyson, famous for coming up with a vacuum cleaner that doesn't use a bag, on... you guessed it, the vacuum cleaner I was talking about earlier. Don't forget the little things “The third house is the House of the Quest of the Essential. “For Issey Miyake, what is more essential than life? He always tries to find ideas with simplicity and are essential in our life. Don't get caught up in your fame and fortune. Remember your roots, and your roots will remember you. Just kidding. We Filipinos have a saying: never forget where you come from. Your family, your friends, your planet. Never forget the lessons that you've learned along the way and never forget that there will always be someone better than you, so you've always got to be on your toes and do your best. You may not be able to please everyone, but you can die happy knowing that you've at least pleased yourself. All together now... Reflections in a Drop is an example of how Issey Miyake makes all of these elements come together. “That's why for his first fragrance, for example, he was inspired by water. His first fragrance, l'Eau d'Issey, was made around the water concept. L'Eau is French for water, and Issey means life, so l'Eau d'Issey is 'the water of life.' He is very interested in this element, which he considers the perfect element on earth. That's why today, we have a fragrance built around water. “The fragrance is a bit different from the original fragrance. It's very powdery, very fragrant. It has a musky trail, very feminine, very fresh because in the top note we have the mandarin but the notes of the lotus and rose are the same as the original. They are the link in the universe of l'Eau d'Issey. “The lotus and the rose represent the meeting between the east and the west. As we know, Issey Miyake is a Japanese artist. The lotus represents Asia. The rose represents the occidental countries. Something that Issey Miyake likes to do is strike a balance between modernity and tradition. This is what he calls harmony. “Once agin, Issey Miyake has created something new, something different by mixing some works. And this is really in the concept of Issey Miyake and this belongs to the House of Meetings of Issey Miyake.” Putting all these together has enabled Issey Miyake to continually refresh himself, keep himself relevant. It's something that every business strives to achieve, especially in today's cutthroat world.