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CNN's Elsa Klensch reports on Matsushima's skin revealing collection
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From Correspondent Elsa Klensch

TOKYO (CNN) -- Tokyo designer Masaki Matsushima uses a new concept for showing fashion -- he puts it into a relaxed garden setting, complete with stone fountain, archways and statues.

It's a way, he says, of showing the reality of his spring/summer collection, which he fills with long, lean silhouettes that reveal bare arms, bare backs, bare shoulders and legs.

"I want my clothes to be seen as a part of a whole, that's why this setting was appealing to me," he says. It's the idea of women just walking in the street or taking a stroll in the park"

Matsushima believes in layering -- but says his is a theme of opposites. What appear to be long skirts from the front, for example, are actually aprons over shorts.

"Another example for instance, I use a skirt shape, tie it around the neck, and it becomes a new, modern jacket, or cape," he says. "It's this interplay of conventional pieces in unconventional ways that interests me this season."

Matsushima goes for what he calls "smoky colors in various shades," adding white and red "to add a bit of spice." As for fabrics, his preference for pleats has led him to a wool-polyester blend.

"And I use a technique where I sort of grab the fabric, and the shape that forms is the shape that I end up with on the fabric," he says. "By using a heat process, that shape stays the way it's grabbed and the piece won't lose the shape even after washing it or dry cleaning it."

Matsushima gives his pieces what he calls a second hand feeling because he believes women want clothes that seem familiar.

"The cutting is clean of course, but I like an element of deconstruction or some other technique that makes the outfit look lived-in," he explains. "It shows that a woman wears her clothes and really loves them."

Matsushima worked with a shoemaker to design his shoes, opting for platforms because of the length of his pants and skirts. In the way of accessories, he says the choker is "really important."

"I call it a neck-holder, and it's made from the same fabric as the skirts," he says.