Asian Road

Miu Nakamura born March 14, 1991 is a Japanese tarento and gravure idol. She was born in Aomori prefecture, and now resides in Iwate prefecture.

After leaving middle school, she decided not to take the high school entrance exam, and instead chose to focus on her modelling career. At the age of 14, her first gravure DVD, "Fairy", was released on December 1, 2005. An innocent-looking girl donning provocative swimsuits, Nakamura soon caught the attention of idol fans.

In July 2006, she won the title of "Miss Young Magazine". After winning the title, she was quoted as saying that she would show her naughtier side from then on. However, towards the end of 2007, rumours about her leaving the idol industry began to spread and she didn't appear in public for several months. Following her return to the public gaze it was rumoured that she had been absent so long because she had been taken from her home in Iwate prefecture by an unnamed relative with alleged links to the Yakuza. However, no charges were ever brought and this whole series of events has been dismissed by some as similar to the Bob Dylan motorcycle accident story, a way of retaining publicity whilst simultaneously temporarily escaping the pressures of fame.

Since returning, she has focused more on music, acting and voice-acting as well as modelling. Her career as a singer is now beginning to be genuinely successful with her album 'Stand My Ground' with its gothic rather than pop overtones selling well in Asia even outside Japan.

Source : www.onlygirl.blogbus.com
www.wikipedia.org

Issey Miyake is a Japanese fashion designer. He is known for his technology-driven clothing designs, exhibitions and fragrances.

Mr. Miyake "oversees the overall direction of all lines created by his company", even though the individual collections have been designed by his staff since his 'retirement' from the fashion world in 1997.

* Issey Miyake - main collection line, subdivided into men (since 1978/85) and women (since 1971) collections, designed by Dai Fujiwara (succeeded Naoki Takizawa in 2006)
* Issey Miyake Fête - colorful women's line that "draws on the technological innovations of Pleats Please"(Fête means 'celebration' in French) (since 2004)
* Pleats Please Issey Miyake - polyester jersey garments for women that are first "cut and sewn and then pleated (normally, fabric is first pleated and then cut and sewn "to permanently retain washboard rows of horizontal, vertical or diagonal knife-edge pleats."(since 1989/93)
* HaaT - women's line, designed by Miyake's former textile designer, Makiko Minagawa. HaaT means 'village market' in Sanskrit, the word sound similar to 'heart' in English. (since 2000).
* A-POC - custom-collection for men and women. Tubes of fabric are machine-processed and can be cut into various shapes by the consumer. A-POC is an acronym of 'a piece of cloth', and a near homonym of 'epoch'.(since 1997)
* me Issey Miyake - line of "exclusive one-sized shirts that stretch to fit the wearer" that are sold in plastic tube, named Cauliflower for the non-Asian market. (since 2001)
* Issey Miyake Watches - men's and women's watches
* Issey Miyake Parfums - line of fragrances for men and women, see below

* Issey Miyake maintains a freestanding store, named ELTTOB TEP Issey Miyake (reverse for 'Pet Bottle') in Osaka where the full array of lines is available.

Perfumes

Like many fashion designers, Issey Miyake also has a line of perfumes. His first fragrance, the light aquatic-floral L'eau d'Issey for women, was launched in 1992. The name L'eau d'Issey (engl.: Issey's water) is a pun. In French, it sounds identical to "l'odyssée" (engl. odyssey).

The scent was followed by L'eau d'Issey Pour Homme (for men) in 1994. L'eau Bleue d'Issey Pour Homme was introduced in 2004; and it's evolution, L'eau Bleue d'Issey Eau Fraiche was introduced in 2006. Every year since 2007, Issey Miyake has brought out a "limited time only" fragrance for ladies in which he brings in a "guest" perfumer. In 2007, he launched 'Drop on a Petal', and in 2008 he launched 'Reflections in a Drop'. A new Issey Miyake men's fragrance, L'eau d'Issey Pour Homme Intense, was introduced at Nordstrom in the United States in June 2007, with a larger worldwide rollout following in September 2007. Issey Miyake fragrances are produced under a long-term agreement by the Beauté Prestige International division of Shiseido, who also produces fragrances for Narciso Rodriguez, John Varvatos, and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Source : www.wikipedia.org