Yusuke Takahashi’s desert inspiration for spring was not out of context, given the sweltering heat in the courtyard venue of the Université Pierre et Marie Curie on the Left Bank. In this stark urban landscape, outsized shapes were the norm, twisted with tailored elements for the city-living nomad in a variety of washed out earthy shades, punctuated with pops of cerulean blue and bright orange in a proposition that nailed casual cool with a touch of jagged eccentricity.
Extra-wide pants gathered midcalf, while others, slimmer in shape, were cropped and tapered at the back. The coats, jackets and shirts were worn large, with an Eighties feel, either loose or cinched at the waist, exaggerating the volumes, as in a loose gray tailored jacket tucked into matching pants, giving the impression of overalls. Many looks featured cowl necks and Mao collars, and there were several long shirts that resembled the robes of desert dwellers too.
Key were the fabric treatments, with textured and printed textiles in a range of effects, from the label’s staple crinkled designs to ripples created with salt shrinking, and seemingly geometric patterns worked with diverse materials and techniques to resemble the sandy landforms and geological layers of an arid desert landscape.