Biography
Kunihiko Morinaga has built a strong following in his native Japan and a burgeoning international reputation for his cerebral designs. Born in Tokyo in 1980, Morinaga studied at Waseda University and the Vantan Design Institute. In 2003, Morinaga founded his brand Anrealage, The designer first showed in 2006, when he collaborated with fellow designer Keisuke Kada on a guerrilla show in Tokyo.
The designer’s work is progressive, intelligent and technologically literate. Morinaga told Italian Vogue, "I think that there is both a science technology and a human technology in technology. I am interested in making clothes by crossing over these two different technologies. I think that in any age, it is important to maintain a close relationship with the technology of that specific age. Combining the technology made by man's hands and the high technology made by the latest machines may be our future task.”
Each of Morinaga’s collections is germinated from the exploration of one particular theme. Past collections have explored “Bone”, "Shape" and “Colour," with the latter seeing models dressed in white parade down a runway lit by UV lights, to spectacular results. In collaboration with Trident, Morinaga worked on a project dubbed "Focus", which saw the designer develop phone signal repelling garments after feeling the strain technology placed upon himself and others during fashion week.
In 2005, Anrealage won the Design Vision Award For Avant Garde at Gen Art competition for new designer in New York; in 2011, it won the 29th Mainichi Fashion Grand Prix for the best new designer in Tokyo; and in 2014, the brand began showing at Paris Fashion Week. The brand also collaborated with Amazon in 2018.
Morinaga is one of eight finalists for the 2019 LVMH Prize.