Anrealage's Totally Unwearable Beauty

'Does this dress make me look fat?' Yes, and that's kind of the point, at least peripherally.

 

Usually, unrealistic interpretations of how women should look draw criticism. We should all be tall, skinny and eternally wrinkle-free, etc. But in the case of Kunihiko Morinaga, the Japanese conceptual designer behind the label Anrealage, the impossible manifests in ways that challenge conventional notions about the human body and how we dress it. We're too stunned for harsh words.

Plastic inflatables as a material fly in the opposite direction of a shape that offers that svelt look and feel we endlessly pursue, so at first sight we ask, 'Why?' But Morinaga's designs aren't derived from that myopic ideal of looking long, lean and chic. In fact, in many of his previous collections, he ignored the body altogether. The 'clothes' were structured objects that had absolutely to do with the human form. Morinaga likes shapes. Basic, three-dimensional shapes like the sphere, cube and pyramid. He may be an avant-garde designer whose followers likely include the Kawakubo and Margiella set, but he never intended for anyone to try to wear his pyramind hoodie or trenchcoat cube. It's just not possible, no matter how broad the mind:

Photo credit: Paul Barbera of Where They Create

When Morinaga does decide to welcome back established patterns and consider his creations as things people might actually wear, he does so beautifully, with couture attention to detail. His SS 11 collection is a hybrid of the two, in that you can actually put these clothes on, but very few would.

As much as I love feminine, figure flattering dresses with pretty details, I always give time to hearing someone's alternate view of our reality. Isn't it more fun and enriching to try to understand something so incongruent with our beliefs than to dimiss it? (But I hope Tom Cruise isn't reading this.)

These angel wing sleeves really are divine. They also come in handy on long flights.

The third one is more practical than it looks - you wouldn't have to wear a bra.

 

Show photos: WWD.com

Comments

[WendyB]

I want giant shoulder ... things.

[Jem]

I expected to feel slightly dismayed as I often am by the more odd catwalk creations but this is irreverent in just the right way!

I could see Grace Jones rocking one of the angel-sleeved dresses!

Jem xXx

[Amy H.]

"Isn't it more fun and enriching to try to understand something so incongruent with our beliefs than to dimiss it?" -- a perfect approach to fashion, and to life.

[Reanna]

I love that Anrealage's inflatable dress can double as a Zorb. Keep pushin' the boundaries!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ljbOmNX7x0

[Wrecked Stellar]

The black trench with the angel wings is outstanding! Hope you're well! xo, mel

[Vint Junky]

I'm always more intrigued by the unwearable.
Although i most definitely WOULD wear that inflated black bubble skirt in the last pics ;)
Good old Tokyo!