Exploded flowers, discarded sketches, and rainbow landforms in China were just some of the myriad themes behind Yiqing Yin s sophomore turn as design director for Leonard Paris. Amid the array of prints was another element normally so commonplace, but novel for this French fashion house: denim, which made its debut as a roomy jumpsuit spliced with pale lace that crept masterfully across the swath of indigo. Yin could have made the obvious transition to printed denim; instead, she explored the idea of a denim print—and not just the type of trompe l oeil we d recognize from Gaultier. Her silk simulacrum patched together different washes plus a top pattern of sketched flowers that was originally headed for the trash can. "I wanted to explore prints like a child s game, with no constraints," Yin said backstage. "So even if an accident happens, it could become something magical." Certainly there was a Technicolor dreamy aspect to the striated Lurex jacquards inspired by the Rainbow Mountains, a sandstone phenomenon in northwest China. Less trippy: a pale floral print that had been cut into pieces and rescanned so that a close look revealed its fragments and, by extension, all the effort involved in its creation.
Yin s creative process is elaborate, at times excessively so; yet there s no question she strives for lightness. The bikini-style top with a roomy sarong pant in silk gazar (once again, printed to mimic denim) could be described as playful. Yin could tighten her direction a little (constraints aren t always prohibitive), but otherwise, let the fun continue.
