For his return to Paris, Hiromichi Ochiai was in an upbeat mood and it showed; last season, the collection made it to Europe, but not the designer himself.
His bright color palette and nostalgic references to childhood fantasies were sweet and refreshing, but there was nothing naïve about the technical prowess he demonstrated on the runway.
Alcantara material — most often used in car interiors — was laser-cut using a special technique, creating a floral pattern and used in a plethora of different ways. These included slinky fringed ponchos that evoked a game of dressing up, a regal purple dress with an asymmetric pleated underskirt and a statement puffer coat on which the fringed synthetic suede formed an outer skin, layered over shiny khaki padding to graphic effect.
Fluffy wool tailoring was gracefully striped in the colors of the rainbow, a pattern that was reprised on a shellsuit in brighter shades that offered a different type of nod to the nostalgia of youth and will no doubt resonate with the Y2K set.
Facetasm’s signature deconstructed details like open shoulders and incongruously placed zippers on the sportier looks — including puffer pants, which have appeared on several Paris runways already this week — mingled with more romantic silhouettes in colorful floral prints, their diaphanous flaps of fabric undulating down the catwalk.