BACKSTAGE OF ANREALAGE BY ELSA GOUDENEGE

It is never easy to anticipate the theme of a new collection by a brand as playful and imaginative as Anrealage, but this season their invites gave us a clue - little LED displays addressed personally to each invitee. The Anrealage FW25 collection was, fittingly, titled “SCREEN”, presented with an original soundtrack created for the show by member of the duo Daft Punk Thomas Bangalter. 

Kunihiko Morinaga imagined a future, where screen-time cannot be escaped, and questions if the brightest of lights really are brightening our world. LED yarns were knitted into Minecrafty box shaped dresses and two piece sets with the help of MPLUSPLUS, changing colour and pattern as if by magic. Less structured silhouettes hung oversized over the body. Mesh covered each of the models faces, as if the lights weren’t too bright for us to make them out anyway. 

Amongst other designs like sparkling stars and flickering flannel prints, the garments synchronistically lit up to appear like stained glass windows. With the grand windows of The American Cathedral of Paris directly behind them, they posited a commentary between the real and digital. Despite the explosions of colour on each garment and the awe of the audience, a darkness hung in the air as we were brought to question where our worship lies as we continue to rely on technology.