What a shame. As the small-font list of names on the credit sheet attested, a lot of people worked hard to get this afternoon’s planned Anrealage show ready to go. But in a twist that could almost have been scripted (by an especially sadistic writer), the always futuristic plans of Kunihiko Morinaga were today undone by a technological glitch.
By the time we filed in past the Standing sign, the show had been downgraded to a presentation. A line of models wore outfits in zestfully patterned fabrics, alongside “floating” objects similarly clad. These were hanging by fine clear wire from a tracked rig in the ceiling. Morinaga explained through his translator over loud music (tricky), that he’d been inspired by 1970s manga cartoon Doraemon to create outfits both for his models and for imagined objects that were sort of personal drones and real world avatars rolled into one. He talked about how in the future the consideration of dressing such objects might be just as relevant as dressing people. There was a Reebok collaboration that involved some refashioned Instapump sneakers and a sneak peak at the work Morinaga has been cooking up as artistic director of a line by Italian outerwear brand Herno.
Looking at that roof rig you understood that the models were probably supposed to have been followed by their matchy-matchy “objects” as they walked the show. But that show never happened because, it was confirmed later, something-or-other that enabled this illusion to occur failed at the last minute. This was a pity for Morinaga and all those colleagues. The designer was left describing what might have been, instead of showing what might become. And while it was disappointing too for the audience, it was worth considering that Anrealage has created a series of mesmerizingly innovative shows in recent seasons: even the best of us strike out sometimes.
