V&A

Brown Purple Blue Printed Silk Kaftan Dress

1970s · 1970s · Japanese

Designer

Issey Miyake

Production

ready-to-wear

Material

printed silk

Culture

Japanese

Movement

Japanese avant-garde fashion · Hippie / Counterculture

Influences

Japanese graphic design · Middle Eastern kaftan

A loose-fitting kaftan dress constructed from printed silk featuring two distinct textile zones. The upper section displays a brown ground with scattered geometric and celestial motifs including circles, dots, and linear elements in purple and blue. The lower portion features vertical stripes in alternating purple, blue, and cream tones. The garment appears to have wide sleeves and an unstructured silhouette typical of 1970s artistic dress. The textile design reflects Tadanori Yokoo's graphic design aesthetic combined with Issey Miyake's architectural approach to garment construction, creating a piece that bridges Japanese design sensibility with Western kaftan forms.

dressloose fitmaxi

Connected To

White Cotton T-Shirt with Orange Red Geometric Lettering

White Cotton T-Shirt with Orange Red Geometric Lettering

71%

Brown Purple Blue Printed Silk Kaftan Dress

Designer·Issey MiyakeTechnique·screen-printing

SHARED30 years · cross-category

These two pieces reveal Issey Miyake's lifelong obsession with transforming flat graphics into dimensional experiences on the body. The early 1970s kaftan uses geometric circles and lines that seem to float across the silk like a modernist constellation, while the 2000s tee breaks down "APOC" lettering into pixelated fragments that suggest digital decay.

Echoes Across Time

Charcoal Metallized Organza Tunic with Sculptural Sleeves

1990s → 1970s · 40yr48%

SHARED

Technique·drapingFunction·avant-gardeMotif·abstract-organic

Pull the Thread→

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White Cotton Kaftan with Geometric Embroidery

White Cotton Kaftan with Geometric Embroidery

68%

Brown Purple Blue Printed Silk Kaftan Dress

Influences·Middle Eastern kaftanMovement·Hippie / Counterculture

SHAREDsame era · cross-culture

These two 1970s kaftans capture the decade's hunger for authenticity through opposite approaches to the same silhouette. The Israeli piece stays true to traditional Palestinian embroidery—those precise geometric florals scattered across the chest and marching down the sleeves in disciplined rows—while the Japanese version abstracts the kaftan into pure modernist play, with scattered circles and organic shapes floating across silk like a Kandinsky painting.

Text80%

Image62%

Entity42%