“It looks like a no brainer,” mentioned Michelle Ochs of the way in which she put a bandage model maxi costume with embellished slashes operating diagonally throughout the physique underneath one among her gently outsized tailor-made jackets. Ochs is simply two collections in at Hervé Léger, however she’s managing to imbue a way of ease right into a language that may very simply really feel—and look—contrived.
The second-skin tightness of all of it was previous information till a couple of years in the past when Kim Kardashian launched SKIMS and ushered within the return of bodycon and shapewear. Add to that the post-pandemic increase of lingerie-like clothes and also you’ve bought a superb alternative to arrange a brand new period at Hervé Léger, one of many originators of this “the-body-is-the-look” development (see additionally: Azzedine Alaïa). However Ochs’s problem at Léger isn’t to discover a market as a lot as it’s to persuade us that there will be modernity to the model’s legacy fabrications. “We’ve bought this nice look, and we’re harkening to among the archive, however I attempt to think about that this lady is carrying this now,” Ochs mentioned at a preview. “It’s nonetheless physique contouring, however it’s completely different proportions that push issues ahead.”
Living proof: What would have been a cheeky mini again within the aughts is now a maxi or generally a midi. The bandage attire that reveal the again are sometimes extra coated up within the entrance, and, reasonably than discovering sexiness in baring all of it, Ochs is betting on the tease—a few of her most compelling iterations of the bandage have slashes in between some bands, providing a touch of leg right here, some torso there. “You need to steadiness it out!” she mentioned with fun. The large winner on this lineup is a bandage LBD draped round a keyhole body. “It retains every little thing as a substitute,” mentioned the designer.
What’s been most attention-grabbing about Ochs at Legér up to now is her dedication to discovering novelty within the model’s present language. Her sequin items are literally all knits that stretch so far as her bandage robes do. In a single case (look 15), she eliminated the Lycra from the bandage knit to maintain the language however give it extra ease. The consequence has an air of sophistication Léger will profit from shifting ahead. As Awards season kicks-off, we’ll absolutely see extra of Ochs’s robes—they’re a purple carpet no-brainer.
