Yuima Nakazato reveals operatic haute couture extravaganza at Paris Fashion Week

PARIS- Yuima Nakazato showed an elaborate haute couture lineup at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris on Wednesday, sending models down a stark white runway in pleated, scrunched, shredded and dyed fabrics, embellished with spikes and patches of shiny armour.

The Japanese designer drew up costumes for an upcoming performance of the opera "Idomeneo," debuting next month in Geneva, and the spring-summer runway collection was linked to the collaboration.

Male models were wrapped in layers of fabric -- one wore an airy, sheer scarf wound around strips of silvery armour, while another moved with piles of bunched-up ruffles trailing behind.


Draped dresses and skirts were embellished with huge, shimmery coins, and a suit jacket had patches that seemed barely stitched together.

The show closed with a performance by dancer Pau Aran Gimeno, who, dressed all in white, stepped into a pool of red paint and smeared it over the runway with the fabric of his trousers.

The Paris spring/summer Haute Couture Week, which runs to Jan. 25, has featured some of the industry's best-known labels, including Chanel, Giorgio Armani and LVMH-owned Christian Dior, as well as designers Imane Ayissi, Rahul Mishra and Stephane Rolland.