While Facetasm may be an established presence in Tokyo, this morning marked the brand’s Paris runway debut. As the first new show on the official calendar, it played the unofficial role of hype man, delivering a necessary jolt of cool to get a week of heavyweights started right. Hiromichi Ochiai, who was shortlisted for the LVMH Prize, said he approached the collection no differently just because the stakes might be perceived as higher. “I just wanted to show myself and what I’m good at,” he said nonchalantly backstage, as his seven-month-old son bobbed on his lap.
To this end, his lineup of idiosyncratic, confidently styled looks flowed through exercises that pushed tailoring and layering in unexpected ways: An elongated suit tunic, and deconstructed tailored jackets paired with roomy shorts or ample trousers opened the show; followed by shirts fused with crisscrossed cricket knit necklines; and then a lively dose of streetwear in which plaid, camouflage, and a collaged digital print increasingly turned up both color and proportional volume. As for what the checkered T-shirt backed with feathers or The Last Supper rendered as a chenille varsity-jacket patch revealed about Ochiai, the obvious observation is that he allows himself to have fun.
When asked whether he would describe his style as punk, the designer demurred, offering "freestyle" instead. Duly noted. But it’s worth qualifying that the looks were ultimately controlled. All those remixed jeans, spliced athletic sweatshirts, and redesigned mascots could only have resulted from much fine-tuning. And on that note, the correct pronunciation of the brand is FASS-e-TA-zum, as in facets, not face. If you didn’t know, now you know.
