Japanese fashion brand Anrealage played with light in the Spring-Summer 2019 “Clear” collection, held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts during Paris Fashion Week.

The show began with scaled garments in shades of black, with futuristic handmade details that showed the delicate thought process behind each design.

The material is called Clear Black Photochromic, which is visibly black in the sunlight but gradually loses color under fluorescent lighting; it shifts toward gray and eventually becomes transparent, showing the inner wear and skin. Having over 5,000 parts per outfit, it showcases mechanical technology in this modern innovation.

 Clicking heels

Urethane material known as Stabio was made in collaboration with Mitsui Chemicals, as seen in buttons, studs, cubes, and the heels of shoes. The clear buttons were made with photochromatic lenses called SunSensors-MR-8.

Thanks to the close-to-nothing sounds by Ichiro Yamaguchi and Shitaro Aoyama, the focus was on the models’ clicking heels as they walked down the wooden runway.

The debut of the shoe line, designed by Toshinouke Takegahara (Foot The Coacher), consisted of Highgrounder, Platformer and Distorter models. Sneakers designed in collaboration with Onitsuka Tiger also displayed the back-and-forth transformation between black and clear.

Transparency in the shape of the figure “zero” was seen in the next few looks, with spangled fabric and black satin becoming clear, as well as transparent polyester ripstop.

Structured colored pieces used cotton denim and military fabrics that partially lost their original hues. —CONTRIBUTED