It was impossible not to notice that under the black nylon Anrealage-branded jacket he was wearing backstage before this show, Kunihiko Morinaga had gained some major bulk. His torso had the unlikely volume of some old-school circus strongman. The secret to the designer’s transformation sat just above the hem of his jacket: a one- or two-inch diameter fan that drew in air and gently inflated the garment.
As Morinaga explained, “air-con clothing” has been a thing in Japan for several years. After much trial and error it was invented and perfected by former Sony engineer Hiroshi Ichigaya (check the entertaining profile on nippon.com) as a new form of cooling workwear. The idea is that the constantly refreshed aura of air encircling the body allows for the speedy evaporation of sweat and the maintenance of a bearable temperature. Enthusiastic clients from the construction sector and other hard-working, weather-exposed industries have enabled Ichigaya’s 2004-founded company Kuchofuku to expand almost as rapidly as its garments when they inflate: the category it pioneered is now worth more than $140 million a year in sales.
Which brings us back to Anrealage. Morinaga’s first three models came out in loose, drapey and opaque romper suits in white, pink and blue. When the fans (which can be controlled via app) were started the ultralight nylon garments inflated—and the audience was rightly wowed. Applause still rang as further sections followed. Prints showed the graphic elements of polka-dot, check and houndstooth as if they’d been windblown like autumn leaves. These had been printed with a water-free process named Forearth invented by another Morinaga collaborator, Kyocera. We saw a section of amusingly steroid-enormous track-jackets before Morinaga really found his own creative wind by applying an artistic agenda to Ichigaya’s pragmatic invention.
Morinaga used the inflationary pressure of the Ichigaya process to create shapes that were semi-abstract, but also evocative of insects, flowers, birds and coral. Fabrics included what looked like a tweed, but mostly stuck to the parachute lightness of nylon. Powerfully unfamiliar, these would be a challenging wear in a banal and daily context for anybody who wilts under scrutiny. Yet accompanied by Jakops’s specially-composed, urgently uplifting soundtrack it was easy to see these Anrealage pieces absolutely in their element on some loopily enhanced midsummer’s dancefloor. The shapes Morinaga was throwing were fun and fascinating. And in the sweltering closeness of the Palais de Tokyo basement space we were watching them in, the appeal “air-con clothing” technology was obvious.
