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.
