Upon arrival at the Anrealage show at the Palais de Tokyo this afternoon, guests were greeted by waiters carrying trays of glasses. In one, there was water, in the other, sake. Both clear liquids, entirely alike in all properties except the important ones. Really, you see, it’s all in how you look at things. Until, of course, it isn’t.
Wireless headsets and elaborate instructions had been left on the seats: The Spring collection, one quickly gathered via the pamphlet and the English robotic voice provided by the accompanying recording (think Benedict Cumberbatch meets Siri), was inspired by “reflection,” specifically how it warps reality. The clothes would only be fully visible through an iPhone’s camera app after being photographed with a flash—a very modern take on a mirror, it’s true, but considering the plethora of devices held aloft during Fashion Week, not exactly a stretch.
When the clothes appeared and were drowned in a flurry of handheld flashes, what first appeared to be a plain light gray or black-and-white striped dress became a neon houndstooth check; a glen plaid transformed into a tartan, a fancy tweed, a patchwork; pinstripes were lace; white became a kaleidoscope pattern; Mt. Fuji, a quilt. A speckled-looking frilled black frock suddenly boasted the galaxy at warp speed, courtesy of what the show notes described as an “official collaboration with the film Star Wars” (which, if true, should provide at least one of the upcoming film’s young stars with a seriously viable red carpet ensemble for an upcoming Comic-Con). Often the garments themselves were reversed, inverted, rejiggered: two pieces sewn together at the hemisphere to make a slightly off-kilter asymmetrical form, which came out a lot more appealingly than it sounds, especially in the case of the cropped bomber jackets; rounded sleeve sheaths; and short, A-line shifts.
One has come to expect this level of technological trickery from designer Kunihiko Morinaga, who has played with the ideas of exposure, light, and shadow before. But here, his fabric innovations—developed in collaboration with a company that specializes in recursive reflective paint, the type used in markers and signs at construction sites—came with a smattering of actually wearable shapes, a combination that promises to move beyond the purely conceptual and into actual closets. (Plus, it must be said: What a good party trick!)
