Paris Fashion Week: Issey Miyake spring/summer 2011

Models take to the runway at the Issey Miyake spring/summer 2011show at Paris Fashion Week

I almost expected The Police's 'Ghost in the Machine' to come over the sound system; after all the singer, Sting, had been sitting front row at Roland Mouret an hour beforehand, and ghosts were very much on the mind of the Issey Miyake designer, Dai Fujiwara.

Fujiwara, however, was thinking more of a fashionable 'ghost', an effect he created on the body with transparent layers, and softly wafting silhouettes that represented phantoms.
The models emerged from a cloud of dry ice, firstly in functional pieces in shades of white and black - anoraks over papery trousers, dresses shot with silver discs, or fan-pleated, and a spectral, full-length gown in open-work knit.
The ghostly effect was heightened with the appearance of strong-coloured kaftans, robes and batwing-dresses, in a new techno-mesh so light and fine, it almost appeared to float. A simple white silk shift featured a single wide-brush-stroke, hand-applied in black and red, by an unseen hand, the colours matched by the model's hair.
More complex patterning, based on raffia, rattan and wood-grain, was used for multi-pleated jackets and shorts, accessorized with straw cone-hats.
The finale featured spooky eye and dancing spot prints in black and white, and magical, folded and pleated trouser suits and kimono coats, in white, with a fine woven hint of black.
And then, like ghosts, the models disappeared into the mist.