The digital looks of the Japanese brand Anrealage materialize in real silhouettes in the film of its new collection Dimension, presented last Saturday during Paris Fashion Week.

By Ludmilla Intravaia

To merge animation and a fashion show, the digital world and the physical world, such is the mission that Kunihiko Morinaga had given Anrealage for its new fashion presentation, unveiled during Paris Fashion Week, last Saturday.

Belle in the film of Anrealage Spring-Summer 2022 collection, presented on October 2, 2021, during Paris Fashion Week (© Anrealage)

Successful bet for this extraordinary artistic project, where the transdimensional imagination of the Japanese designer is deployed in two worlds: the first one, virtual, from the animation movie Belle, released in Japan on July 16 and the second, In Real Life, from his Spring-Summer 2022, entitled Dimension.

Belle wears a costume by Kunihiko Morinaga, founder of Anrealage, in a concert scene from the anime Belle, released in Japan on July 16, 2021 (© Studio Chizu)

It all started when the Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda approached Kunihiko Morinaga to design two costumes sported by his heroine, Belle, during a concert scene from his anime. In the virtual world U, Belle is a beloved singer, the avatar of Suzu, a shy 17-year-old high school student. Discover below the trailer of the film, to be released in France on December 29.

Enthused by his experience in animation, Kunihiko Morinaga then proposed to Mamoru Hosoda to collaborate with him for the presentation film of his Dimension collection, in the virtual world U, where the looks of the CGI runway show from Anrealage materialize in real silhouettes, merging the boundaries between science fiction and poetry, tech and romanticism.

Anrealage Spring-Summer 2022 collection, presented on October 2, 2021, during Paris Fashion Week (© Anrealage)

Kunihiko Morinaga deconstructed second-hand clothes into a multitude of triangles, a geometric figure used by Anrealage since its Home SS21 collection, to create polygonal silhouettes in graphic and seamless patchworks, completed with matching platform sandals from United Nude, resin jewelry with dried flowers by Anever and sculptural helmets.

In addition to the reclaimed materials, in many colors, from jeans in different washes, second-hand chinos, military clothing and vintage trench coats, hight-tech reflective materials are also used in the collection, especially in the silhouette closing the show, a long patchwork dress in shades inspired by the aurora borealis, the same one worn by Belle in the anime.

Watch the film Dimension at U, in the video below.

Note that it was also possible to attend the fashion show in the form of an avatar, thanks to the virtual reality platform Door, on which a showroom is also accessible. The digital collection is sold as NFTs. For more info, watch the behind the scene video below.

* The Paris Fashion Week Womenswear ready-to-wear Spring-Summer 2022 took place from 27 September to 5 October 2021. Find the presentations and fashion shows on the dedicated digital platform, here.

* Anrealage website is here.