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PARIS - James Dyson teamed up with Japanese fashion label Issey Miyake on Tuesday for a spring-summer collection with an airy theme aimed at showcasing innovative designs.
Models stepped out of a giant plastic yellow tube similar to those used in Dyson's distinctive bagless vacuum cleaners that use
cyclone technology to suck up dirt.
The ceiling of the tent, next to the pyramid in front of the Louvre art museum, was decorated with giant yellow pipes pumping out gusts of air.
Models wore boots shaped like tubes and one wore a dress fastened at the waist with a loose coil of grey tubing. Another skirt carried a "five-year guarantee" tag.
The collaboration between Britain's Dyson and Issey Miyake creative director Dai Fujiwara was supposed to highlight their interest in clever designs.
"I've always admired Issey Miyake and Dai Fujiwara for their boldness, their inventiveness and the way they use new manufacturing methods and materials," Dyson told Reuters.
"In my own little way, I try to do that too ... So when they asked me to do the show I said I'd love to."
The show was entitled "The Wind", after the original idea behind the collection.
"I explored every nuance of the term wind and I had this image of a huge cyclone - powered by Dyson technology. So I challenged James to bring his air expertise to our show," said Fujiwara.
Miyake's collection also brought in a nautical theme, with one model wearing a green jean jacket and skirt printed with wind patterns going over oceans.
The watery link was also repeated in other designers' work on show in Paris on Tuesday, with Japan's Tsumori Chisato drawing her inspiration from life under the sea.
To the sound of breaking waves, models paraded floaty dresses adorned with prints of tropical fish, pink coral or with starfish holding back their long flowing hair.
Chisato's unusual shapes were typical of Japanese designers and could also be seen in the Issey Miyake collection and the Yohji Yamamoto show on Monday night.
Continuing with the watery theme, French designers Marithe and Francois Girbaud used their show to carry a message about global warming.
At the entrance to the catwalk were two worlds with the word water written in front of them. Many of the models wore jeans that had been aged using a new environmentally friendly method.
"The jeans are worked on with air, laser and fire. Not water, we don't use water any more," Francois told Reuters.
"What we're asking is for people to copy us. If they do, we'll save millions tonnes of water each year."
His clothes target a young audience.
"We are talking about a new generation. We're talking about tomorrow," he said.
"The next war will not be about petrol, but water."
- REUTERS