These inflatable latex trousers may be the next big fashion trend

It's well known that what fashion designers think is cool and hip doesn't always gel with what the general public thinks is sane or sensible. A lot of the outfits that glamourous fashion designers have their models march up and down the catwalk in are more about making a bold statement than they are for general consumption.

But oh boy, the latest crazy idea dreamed up by a designer is probably the weirdest yet: billowing latex trousers that will make your legs look like a reflection in a funhouse mirror.

Recently, the fashion retailer Zara was forced to apologize for this offensive 'antisemitic' shirt design:

The wacky idea is the brainchild of menswear designer Harikrishnan, as part of his graduate collection at the prodigious London College of Fashion. Making their catwalk debut earlier this month, these super-wide inflatable trousers consist of up to 30 individual latex panels; either plain white or in strips of red and green.

Commenting on his bizarre project in a recent interview with Dezeen, Harikrishnan stated: "I got the idea when I was playing with my dog and I started thinking about how exaggerated objects must look from such a low angle. The thought of him seeing me as a giant figure or not seeing my head at all was intriguing, so I decided to reimagine the people around me through the game of distortion."

He continued: "My cutting method was adopted from morphing, a technique used by people like [French photographer] Jean-Paul Goude, in which you distort images by assembling fragments of the same subject taken from different perspectives. The final 3D shape of the trousers was visualized in a mini clay model and sliced into fragments. These were then graded and cut in latex, stuck together in various angles."

He added: "In fashion, I see the same images and similar proportions everywhere. I want to create visual imagery that's as far away as possible from neutrality, to make people question the relevance of the proportions we see every day."

There's no doubt about it: he's succeeded all right!