Restoring a stained Issey Miyake designer handbag

Cleaning a designer handbag is harder than you might think! In fact, purse cleaning one of the greatest challenges for even experienced professional dry cleaners and garment care experts. That’s why, at Door to Door Cleaners, we like to document our cleaning process, especially when we have the pleasure of dealing with imaginative designs from luxury labels. 

This Issey Miyake handbag came to us with an unusual oily, greasy stain inside distinctive deep pleats. Simple spot cleaning wasn’t going to work in this complex, artistic construction. In fact, these architectural design aspects were inspired by the 1993 collection Pleats Please, which is part of the the Modern Museum of Arts permenant collection. Miyake’s industrial production research, combined with traditional Japanese fabrics, led to a new style of garment assembly, where oversized fabrics and leather items were folded, ironed, oversewn, creased, and sandwiched with layers of paper, then finally, heat-pressed.

As you can imagine, this was a delicate handbag item to clean and restore. It takes an experienced craftsperson and specialized equipment to tackle this type of handbag repair — a blend of technical skill and fashion knowledge. The photos of our seamlesss restoration show what’s possible when these factors come together — try to spot the area that was addressed in these stunning before and afters.

If you find yourself facing a similar handbag stain at home, you should refer to the brand’s official cleaning care and guidelines. Simple maintainece and light cleaning is most often possible at home. For complete detailing and serious cleaning, don’t hesitate to contact our handbag cleaning experts. We deal with projects locally in the Los Angeles South Bay area and by mail all over the world!