In the 1970s and early 1980s, Japanese designers Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto shocked the fashion world by introducing avant-garde styles that challenged received Western notions of "chic." Informed in part by Japanese traditions such as the kimono, obi and the art of origami, these designers produced radical garments with shapes and textures often incongruous with the natural contours of the human body. Their designs - characterized by asymmetry, raw edges, unconventional construction, oversized proportions and monochromatic palettes - effectively overthrew existing norms and set the stage for the postmodernist movement in the fashion industry.

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