ANREALAGE

[croatoan]

Anrealage has been around for a few years now but still seems to be a relatively small brand. Honestly I don't know a whole lot about it but have liked a lot of what I have seen in Tokyo. I was just looking at the AW2009 collection on their website (http://www.anrealage.com/), though, and was really impressed by the ideas they are playing around with. The designer graduated from Vantan which has been churning out a lot of interesting up-and-coming designers, including Aguri Sagimori and Masahiko Maruyama (nude).

ABOUT from http://www.anrealage.com/
"DESIGNER/Kunihiko Morinaga, born in 1980 in Tokyo. Graduated from Waseda University and Vantan Career School. Brand established in 2003. In 2005, won the "GEN ART styles 2005, Avant-garde grand prix" prize(the contest for newcomers, held in NY). In NOV.2005, started run-way collection at the Tokyo Tower viewing platform with KEISUKE KANDA.In Aug, 2007,held the exhibition named "ANREALAGE HAND TECHNIC" at the National Art Center SFT located in B1. Our concept is "GOD IS IN THE DETAILS", We want to reexamine ordinary lives by having a very close eye on. Based in Tokyo we creates work displaying an original elegance."

2009AW










2009SS






2008SS (nothing really ground-breaking but I really love a handful of the looks)

[Avantster]

Thanks for sharing this croatoan, I like the idea of experimenting with three dimensional polygons as an approach to exploring the resultant shapes on the body. Is this womenswear only?

[jcotteri]

hmmmmmm

[Chinorlz]

it's cute, but comes across more as a gimmick than anything else really. Fun to look at for a moment but certainly nothing one would actually want to own.

Interesting to see someone design pieces like this though.

[croatoan]

it's cute, but comes across more as a gimmick than anything else really. Fun to look at for a moment but certainly nothing one would actually want to own.

Interesting to see someone design pieces like this though.

I think very, very "Japanese" in that sense.

Having tried some pieces on, I find that I would definitely wear certain things. A large chunk of it, though, does fall into that gimmicky Japanese style of over-the-top fits, strange shapes, etc.

[Chinorlz]

I suppose it's Japanese in the digital-design-translated-to-fabric type sense with a bit of whimsy thrown in. After all, you KNOW it's asian when an Ivy League logoed tee is used as one concept hahahaha

The cleverness of the pieces exists only when propped up in their rhomboid forms and I'm quite certain that they wouldn't retain that shape without some wires and thus the original idea gets lost the moment you take it home. After that, it looks like you're wearing a sad sack.

Not to say that I don't like the ideas and pieces, they're certainly fun to look at and I'm glad there are those out there exploring this aspect of clothes and design. I just wish they would take it to the next level and actually use CAD to create clothing that is innovative and functional and that makes us think about construction in a new way.

[DamageX]

It may be gimmicky but it does work with some of the pieces. Interesting concept though, to me at least.

[Chinorlz]

I agree that the concept is interesting, unfortunately it doesn't seem to work in any way at least from the photos posted above. The worn result either looks like some rehash of the classic Rick drape cardigan or something that just looks plain oversized and silly.

I agree with Merz though. It's like a nonanatomical version of Throup's approach. In a way, I see some parallels between Anrealage's work and Throups New Orleans collection where the fabric forms around the brass instruments.

[DamageX]

The worn result either looks like some rehash of the classic Rick drape cardigan or something that just looks plain oversized and silly.

I agree, as far as oversized and silly is concerned, the Stanford shirt takes the cake.

[diamonds]

i like the pop-up/lathe clothes... they're some kind of awesome

[lowrey]

even though it might feel a bit gimmicky to begin with, I think what makes it a bit more interesting is that some pices are surprisingly wearable at least on the mannequins.

[clay]

Yo those geometric clothes are absolutly amazing. I cant believe how this is not appreciated or praised here. Shit im gonna watch these guys closely!

[drexl]

:P

Haha, where 2 kop Mr. Creosote suit?

[ambrosian]

Really liked the colors from this season, bumping up. Especially this piece - appears to open with heat? Would be very interesting to know what materials they're using.

[ambrosian]

A lot of the previous seasons and even this one to an extent work better as a concept than actual wearable clothes. I still really like these tights though.