Fashion is often designed to keep its shape, but Anrealage's latest runway collection features clothes that morph and change their appearance.
For Spring/Summer 2027, designer Kunihiko Morinaga showcased six cocktail and evening dresses that changed colour in real time before the audience.
The dresses appeared near the climax of Anrealage's 'SKIN' show at Paris Fashion Week on 29 September. Each was covered with about 1,000 to 2,000 tiny electronic paper pieces that could be controlled separately, using E Ink Prism 3 technology.
Colours moved across the clothes, shifting from bright shades to ash grey before forming new patterns. Unlike LED screens, the dresses did not shine or glow. The E Ink material simply changed colour.
This effect made the dresses appear almost animated as models walked the runway.
Building a New Skin
The technology was part of a wider idea behind the collection: clothing as an adaptable outer layer that can change, renew, or be replaced while the person underneath stays the same.
Morinaga drew inspiration from biological skin that changes colour and from digital 'skins' used to change a video game avatar's appearance.
The collection explored this concept with close-fitting bodysuits, printed surfaces, and layered scales. Some of those scales changed appearance depending on the viewing angle.
SEKISAI's Effective Skin technology made 3D-printed elements appear to change colour as models moved, without electronic displays.
The garments also combined traditional textiles with advanced technological materials.
KYOCERA's FOREARTH printing method created certain patterns in the collection. Toray Ultrasuede, Japanese washi paper, and see-through parts added different textures.
The designs shifted between classic shapes and digital images. They featured pixel-style graphics, robot designs, and garments that create optical illusions.
The change from flat prints to raised textures supported the idea of clothing as a lively, evolving surface.
Anrealage SS27 “Skin” collection explores fashion in motion, transformation, and renewal. Dresses covered in thousands of E Ink scales shifted color and pattern as they moved pic.twitter.com/EZgUFVS6TD
— beyza misses chandler (@beyzanurapaydin) September 30, 2026
Anrealage 🎨 {ss27 pfw} pic.twitter.com/S9joHStueh
— highfashion (@glmrsstyle) September 29, 2026
Disappearing Clothes
This technology builds on Kunihiko Morinaga's previous Anrealage collection.
For Fall/Winter 2026-27, Morinaga introduced GHOST, a collection developed in collaboration with Ghost in the Shell, the Japanese cyberpunk manga and anime franchise created by Masamune Shirow and first published in 1989.
The collection referenced thermoptic camouflage, a fictional Ghost in the Shell technology that conceals the wearer by blending them into their surroundings.
Morinaga adapted this concept into LED garments that mirrored runway projections, allowing models to blend into the background.
The futuristic collection also included robotic shapes, digital graphics, and circuitry-inspired details, continuing Anrealage's focus on technology in fashion.
'SKIN' took this concept further by transforming garment surfaces rather than making them disappear.
A Collection About Rebirth
The SS27 finale also brought back two LED bodysuits from GHOST, which shifted from grey to fiery, phoenix-inspired colours that highlighted the collection's themes of rebirth and renewal.
Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix, first published in 1954 and centred on an immortal firebird, was a key reference for the collection. The show also included a live performance of Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird, a ballet score inspired by the Russian folk tale of a magical firebird.
For Anrealage, the idea goes beyond adding technology to clothes. Each piece acts as a changing surface, letting fashion change its look while still serving as clothing.
