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Ohya: Folklores Through The Eyes of A Designer
By Mari Davis
PARIS, Mar 12, 2003/ FW/ --- One of the best rewards of staying during the last two days of
the RTW season when the new designers are featured is finding a gem like Hiroaki Ohya.
A protege of Issey Miyake and a graduate of Bunka Fashion College in Japan, the thirty-something
designer presented his second show at the Louvre today. And what a great presentation it was!
Using world folklores as his theme, the young designer chose 12 distinct group of people -
from his homeland, to the native Alaskans, to native Americans and of course the French.
The show opened with a live singer. And in the dramatic all black stage, one spotlight
was turned on to welcome the first model dressed in white.
The silhouette was simple, an A-line dress with very little embellishment. From there,
the designer started building his collection.
The next models that came out, still dressed in white wore miniskirts with unfinished
hem, giving it an ethereal look, almost like fairies.
The models were not 'walking'. It looked as if they were floating.
After the fairy-like creatures, the designer sent models dressed in black knitwear, again
with very raw finish.
All in black, there were no embellishments except the weave, wherein Ohya created a 'plaid'
effect by criss-crossing the yarn.
The silhouette was slim, and this time instead of looking etherial, the models
looked like they were firmly planted on earth.
As each grouping of 5 models tell 12 distinct stories of folklores, the audience always
applause as they leave the runway.
Though the stories were distinct it was actually a trilogy within a trilogy, the climax
being the end, when a lone model dressed in different colors with an elaborate headdress
came out on the runway and stood there as if she was lost while facing the cameras and the
audience.
It was not surprising that she was lost. She was representing the 'alien' folklore. Scully
and Maulder would have been proud!
When the designer took his bow, he was given a standing ovation. After the show, his fans
went backstage to congratulate him, one of them is Didier Grumbach, the President of the
Federation francaise de la Couture.
Ohya accepted the compliments with a smile.
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