Paris fashion week report: Mood lightens as Paris Fashion Week closes

PARIS — Amid the blur of events and shows that is Paris Fashion Week, there was a light breather. Japanese designer Mihara Yasuhiro, of the label Miharayasuhiro  who is known for both his men’s and women’s wear, and who recently held an exhibit in Joyce in Hong Kong, where he also sells his collection showed a dream-like installation at the Tranoï tradeshow.

The designer, who first began his career in footwear and has collaborated with Puma for several years, has been called a propeller of Tokyo street fashion. His men’s collection was launched just a few years after his footwear to critical acclaim, and his women’s collection followed in 2009.

After showing in Milan initially, Yasuhiro began to show his men’s collection in Paris. He does not normally have a runway show for women; instead, he chooses a theme per season. This season’s theme was a photograph inspired by Millais’s “Ophelia,” photographed by Paolo Roversi. The interactive installation, named “Ophelia Has A Dream,” was set against a wall, framed to resemble a Baroque painting. As one came nearer the photograph, projections of butterflies or flying confetti flurried from the ground, via a motion-sensitive projector, onto the picture. In the photo lies model Karen Elson, as though expiring in a blissful swoon. “It is right before she dies. It is about eternal beauty… the feeling,” says Yasuhiro.

Sleeping beauty: Yasuhiro’s “Ophelia” tribute installation

After the tsunami hit Japan last March 11, Yasuhiro says he had a clear vision of what he wanted to do: “I feel so strongly about nature. Life is so fragile.” And so, inspired by a painting that he had liked since his childhood, he conceived the photo as “the surreal time before death.” In this moment, he says, one sees life and the spirit: it is something that does not keep going but is temporary. “This time is not necessarily negative. She is having flashbacks; she is thinking of happy days,” says Yasuhiro. It is the time, he says, between what is real and not, as if in a dream.

Tranoï CEO and president Michaël Hadida says this fashion season was treating him well. “It has been very nice to me,” he says. “For us it is something that we do naturally and with passion.” The tradeshow has been in existence for several years and is usually held in key spots around the city every fashion week. “What we like to do in Tranoï is to share our vision of added value. It is something different from a tradeshow, where designers show their vision and needs of the market. In a way it is very social, and it is also music and art,” says Hadida.

Mihara Yasuhiro answers some questions about “Ophelia Has a Dream.”

The remaining days included the shows of Chanel, Shiatzy Chen, and Impasse de la Defense. Elie Saab showed long lovely dresses in simple beige and stark green — chiffon draping and flowing silk, and proper in the best sense of the word — that could only be described as classic. “The dresses were very princess-like, and did you see Princess Beatrice in the first row wearing red?” wrote one blogger. For any lady who likes their simple lines, unfussy drapes and a lot of flowing fabric, there was a nice added touch to it all: lace at the chest and tiny belts in the same color as the dress, a small, graphic and pretty accompaniment to ankle-length slightly pleated skirts.

Mint, green and purple, and their pastel counterparts, were an apparent trend for next season, as was electric blue and bright red. Lace was also in abundance.