How to Date Issey Miyake From the Tags

The product number on an Issey Miyake care label can identify the line, the final digit of the year, the release group, the garment category, and the style. The catch is that the year repeats every decade.

For example, HP63JD150 breaks down as:

• HP: HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE
• 6: a year ending in 6
• 3: an Autumn/Winter release group in the current system
• JD: a pleated jacket
• 150: the style number

The code is consistent with Autumn/Winter 2026-27, but the 6 could theoretically refer to 2016, 2006, or 1996. The line's launch date, maker information, care symbols, and label design are what identify the correct decade.

Issey Miyake Tag Dating at a Glance

1. Copy the complete product number from the inner label.
2. Read the first two letters to identify the line.
3. Read the first digit as the final digit of the year.
4. Treat the second digit as a release-group code, not a universal month number.
5. Use the line's launch date to eliminate impossible decades.
6. Check the maker wording and care symbols to narrow the remaining candidates.
7. Confirm the result with an official product page, dated collection image, or documented example.

The modern decoder works best for codes following the pattern LL00LL000. Older garments and certain accessories use other formats, so do not force an unfamiliar number into this template.

Step 1: Read the Modern Product Number

A code such as HP63JD150 follows this structure:

A colour or variation code may follow the core number. Resellers also remove spaces and punctuation, so copy every character before trying to decode it.

This structure was reconstructed from 1,836 products on Issey Miyake's official store, whose product handles contain the product codes, and compared with 372 codes in Wardatrobe. Issey Miyake has not published a consumer-facing key, so the tables below are evidence-based reference tools rather than an official specification.

Step 2: Identify the Line Prefix

The prefixes are assigned identifiers rather than abbreviations that can always be guessed. LA for IM MEN is the clearest example. The official-store sample consistently uses IM for the current mainline, HP for HOMME PLISSÉ, and LA for IM MEN.

Always confirm the prefix against the sewn brand label. A code copied incorrectly by one character can appear to belong to an entirely different line. For help identifying the brands themselves, see Issey Miyake's lines explained.

Step 3: Read the Year Digit

The first numeral is the final digit of the year. A 6 therefore creates several possibilities:

• 1996
• 2006
• 2016
• 2026

The code alone does not specify which decade. Line-launch dates often remove most of the candidates immediately:

For an LA6... IM MEN code, 1996, 2006, and 2016 are impossible because the line did not exist yet; the year must be 2026. An HP6... HOMME PLISSÉ code still leaves 2016 and 2026, so the physical care label must settle the decade.

Launch dates apply to the named standalone lines. Earlier prototypes or related projects may exist under another Issey Miyake label and should be dated under the name actually printed on the garment.

Step 4: Interpret the Release-Group Digit

The second numeral orders product groups within a year. Recent official-store data supports this practical chart:

The recent evidence is unusually clear. Products with 61 and 62 codes appeared from January through the first half of 2026, while 63 and 64 products appeared from the Autumn/Winter selling period. The 2025 51, 53, and 54 groups follow the same shape.

Do not turn this into a universal 1–9 calendar. The available data does not establish a stable seasonal boundary for every completed year. Codes from 6 through 9 occur on products no longer present in the official-store sample, and their meaning varies by line and series.

Basics and continuing products

Some numbers deliberately sit outside the runway-season sequence:

• PP15 appears on PLEATS PLEASE RIB PLEATS BASICS and BASIC MADAME-T products.
• ISSEY MIYAKE WATCH codes in the official-store sample use IW55.
• EYES and PARFUMS also commonly use 5 in the release position.
• PLEATS PLEASE Monthly Colors codes can use higher digits that identify a particular release within the continuing series.

For these products, the year digit may still identify a production year, but the following digit should not be translated into SS or AW without a dated listing.

Step 5: Check the Garment Letters

The first of the two letters after the numbers describes the broad construction or product group:

This is why HOMME PLISSÉ and PLEATS PLEASE frequently use J, while BAO BAO, GOOD GOODS, EYES, PARFUMS, and WATCH use A.

Common two-letter combinations include:

These are internal categories, not exact retailer product names. Use them to test whether the number is coherent with the object in front of you.

Step 6: Resolve the Decade From the Care Label

When the year digit leaves two or more possible decades, use the physical label evidence together rather than relying on one detail.

Maker or company wording

Japanese vintage dealers use the manufacturer wording as a major decade clue:

The periods overlap because the house operated multiple lines and tag formats. Treat the wording as a bracket, not a day-exact corporate timeline. Issey Miyake's official company history records the change to ISSEY MIYAKE INC. in September 1990, which supports the transition around the 1990–91 collections.

Care symbols

Japan replaced its older care-labelling standard with the ISO-aligned JIS L0001 system on 1 December 2016. The Japanese Consumer Affairs Agency documents the older symbols and transition and the newer pictogram system.

• Old Japanese-style symbols support a pre-December 2016 date.
• ISO-style pictograms support a date from December 2016 onward.

This is strongest on an original Japanese domestic label. Export labels may follow the destination market's rules, and stock produced around the transition can blur the boundary.

Neck-label design

Collectors and Japanese dealers commonly associate these styles with broad periods:

• Rounded lettering: 1970s
• Grey brush-script label: approximately 1982–89
• Black label: early 1990s
• Silver label: from around 1990 in womenswear and more widely from the late 1990s

Label design is supporting evidence. Different lines can use different layouts at the same time, and popular designs are easier for counterfeiters to imitate than a complete, internally consistent set of tags.

Designer and Line Dates as Supporting Evidence

For mainline garments, the creative-director period provides another useful check:

This does not decode the tag by itself, but it helps test a proposed date against the garment's documented collection and design attribution.

Worked Example: HP63JD150

Suppose HP63JD150 appears on a pleated jacket with modern ISO care symbols.

1. HP identifies HOMME PLISSÉ, launched in 2013.
2. 6 leaves 2016 or 2026 as plausible decades for this line.
3. 3 matches the recent Autumn/Winter release group.
4. JD is consistent with a pleated jacket.
5. ISO care symbols rule out a garment labelled before December 2016, making 2016 unlikely for an ordinary seasonal piece.

The best-supported date is Autumn/Winter 2026-27. An official product page or collection match would provide final confirmation.

Worked Example: PP58JA163

On a PLEATS PLEASE coat, PP58JA163 reads differently:

1. PP identifies PLEATS PLEASE, so the year cannot predate the 1990s.
2. 5 gives 1995, 2005, 2015, or 2025.
3. ISO care symbols eliminate the first three candidates, leaving 2025.
4. 8 is not a universal “late Autumn/Winter” code. This garment belongs to the continuing Monthly Colors series and requires a dated product match.

The tag supports 2025, while the official product identity is what places this example in the December Monthly Colors release.

Common Dating Mistakes

Reading the year digit as a complete year

6 does not automatically mean 2026. Write down every possible decade, then eliminate candidates using the line launch, company wording, and care symbols.

Treating every second digit as a season

The 1–4 pattern is strong for recent seasonal groups, but 5, 0, and the higher digits often belong to basics, accessories, monthly series, or other special ranges.

Ignoring the exact line name

PLEATS PLEASE, HOMME PLISSÉ, mainline ISSEY MIYAKE, and IM MEN have different launch dates and product systems. “Issey Miyake” on a resale listing is not specific enough to date the piece.

Dating a prototype by the later line launch

Ideas such as product pleating and A-POC existed before the standalone brands that later developed them. Date the garment under the label actually sewn into it, not the later brand with the closest concept.

Treating the code as authentication

A plausible code can be copied from a genuine listing. The prefix, year, release group, garment letters, materials, company wording, care symbols, construction, and design should all agree. The code provides consistency, not proof of authenticity.

Older and Unfamiliar Codes

The modern decoder becomes less reliable on garments from before roughly 1990. Japanese dealers sometimes read a trailing numeral as the year on older formats, then rely on the maker name and neck-label design for the decade. That convention is not sufficiently documented to present as a universal rule.

If a code does not fit LL00LL000, do not rearrange it until it does. Photograph the complete label, identify the line and maker wording, and compare the garment with runway archives, catalogues, museum records, or a documented identical piece. Sometimes a date range is the most accurate answer.

The Best Evidence, in Order

For a defensible date, use the strongest evidence available:

1. An official product page, receipt, collection listing, or catalogue naming the release.
2. A match to a documented runway or lookbook garment.
3. A product code whose line, year, release group, and garment category all agree.
4. Maker wording, care symbols, and label design consistent with the proposed decade.
5. Seller descriptions, unsourced charts, and visual guesses.

Add Your Pieces to Wardatrobe

Create a free Wardatrobe account and catalogue the pieces you own in your digital wardrobe. Record the complete product number and maker wording exactly as printed, plus the tagged size, country of manufacture, and clear photographs of both sides of the care label. Already a member? Open your wardrobe.