On Wednesday, 16 September, HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE presented the second edition of OPEN STUDIO in The Tanks at Tate Modern—a captivating dance performance set on an interactive stage, featuring a capsule collection created in collaboration with Tate, inspired by Henri Matisse’s The Snail (1953).

The south tank was transformed into a blank canvas with benches arranged along the circular outer wall and individual seats scattered around. At the centre of the felt-covered floor lay a pleated garment, shaped like one of the paper cut-outs from Matisse’s The Snail (1953).

A solo performer began to lift the felt flooring to reveal more garments, as guests entered the space. They were greeted by performers and prompted to sit down, activating sessions of One One One*—an improvisational dance connecting one spectator to one performer, forming an immediate bond sustained by eye contact.

As the audience took turns to activate multiple One One One sessions, the performers revealed garments hidden underneath the felt flooring. These cut-out garments came to life when worn by the performers, expressing fluidity in dance while celebrating the vibrancy and movement of the original artwork. The way the performers changed between garments, placing the colourful, wearable pieces across the stage, was a reinterpretation of Matisse's atelier filled with paper cut-outs—a tribute to the artist’s process when creating The Snail (1953).

As the sessions came to an end, one performer appeared on stage. Together with other performers, they uncovered a recreation of Matisse’s The Snail (1953) at the centre of the room, beneath the felt—a full-scale composition of pleated garments in the exact shapes of the original paper cut-outs. Surrounding the pleated artwork, the performers danced intuitively in succession as if forming a sensuous, dynamic communion.

These items are available to purchase from 17 September, exclusively at Tate Shops and via Tate’s online store for a limited time.
From January 2027, the capsule collection will be available at ISSEY MIYAKE stores carrying HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE in Tokyo, Osaka, and London. More details will be available at a later time.

The Snail (1953, Henri Matisse)
After 1948, Henri Matisse was confined to bed due to ill health. Though he could no longer paint, he produced many works by cutting or tearing shapes from paper painted in bright colours. An assistant then pasted the cut-outs on a white sheet following his instructions. Matisse found this technique liberating: “Instead of drawing the outline and putting the colour inside it ... I draw straight into the colour.” Matisse got the idea for this composition while drawing a snail. “I became aware of an unrolling, I found an image in my mind purified of the shell, then I took the scissors.”

About Tate Modern
Opened in 2000 on the site of the former Bankside Power Station, Tate Modern has become one of London’s leading cultural institutions. Tate’s vision is to be an artistically adventurous and culturally inclusive museum for audiences in the UK and around the world. Through its four galleries, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives, Tate Britain, and Tate Modern, along with digital platforms and international partnerships, Tate shares a collection of around 70,000 artworks that spans British art from the sixteenth century to today and international modern and contemporary art from 1900 onwards.

About Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company
Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company (DFDC) is a contemporary dance ensemble under the artistic direction of Ioannis Mandafounis. DFDC develops, presents and communicates dance with the intention of bringing people together, inspiring them and fuelling their enthusiasm for dance. Whether through energetic, invigorating performances or quiet, intimate moments – dance has the power to unite even the most diverse individuals.

DFDC combines contemporary ideas with the tradition of dance by experimenting, rethinking and refining established notions of choreography. A central pillar of the ensemble's work is the methodology developed by Ioannis Mandafounis, which enables the dancers to create choreography live on stage, using their bodies, movements and actions afresh in every performance and with every moment. This generates a collaborative process that empowers the individual artists and opens itself up towards the audience.

*Central to Mandafounis' approach, One One One questions the established relationship between performer and spectator, thereby opening up new ways to experience dance. Choreography is created live as dancers translate into movement the sensations prompted by their audience's presence. This intimate, interactive process breaks with the convention of dance performance as a one-way act, allowing the spectator to become an active participant.