Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake dies of liver cancer aged 84

Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, famous for his boldly sculpted, signature pleated pieces, has died at the age of 84, his office said on Tuesday.

The designer's name became a byword for Japan's economic and fashion prowess in the 1980s.

He was also known for designing Apple founder Steve Jobs' iconic black turtlenecks.

Miyake died of liver cancer on August 5, Kyodo news agency said, with his office confirming a private funeral had taken place already.

Miyake’s origami-like pleats transformed usually crass polyester into chic.

He also used computer technology in weaving to create apparel. His down-to-earth clothing was meant to celebrate the human body regardless of race, build, size or age.

The designer was born in Hiroshima 1938, and was just seven-years-old when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city, while Miyake was inside a classroom.

He was hesitant to speak about the bombing, writing in the New York Times in 2009 that he did not want to be labelled as "the designer who survived" Hiroshima.

"When I close my eyes, I still see things no one should ever experience," he wrote, adding his mother had died of radiation exposure three years after.

"I have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to put them behind me, preferring to think of things that can be created, not destroyed, and that bring beauty and joy.

"I gravitated toward the field of clothing design, partly because it is a creative format that is modern and optimistic."

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Miyake studied graphic design at university in Tokyo, before learning clothing design in Paris.

He then headed to New York, but returned to Toyko in 1970 to found the Miyake Design Studio.

Over the years, he took inspiration from a variety of cultures and societal motifs, as well as everyday items - plastic, rattan, washi paper, jute, horsehair, foil, yarn, batik, indigo dyes and wiring.

In 1992, Miyake was commissioned to design the official Olympic uniform for Lithuania, which had just gained independence from the Soviet Union.

The designer was a star as soon as he hit the European runways. His brown top, which combined the Japanese sewn fabric called sashiko with raw silk knit, was splashed on the cover of the September 1973 issue of Elle magazine.

Though he made clothes that went beyond the mundane, appearing to reach for the spiritual, he made a point to never get pretentious, always approving of the "t-shirt and jeans" look.

Miyake kept his family life private, and it is unknown if he is survived by any family.