Isamu Katayama Backlash F14 (3)PARIS, Jan 22, 2014/ — For Fall 2014, designer Isamu Katayama decided to focus on the unsung heroes of the fashion industry, the factory workers, specifically the LABDYERS, the employee who does the actual dying of the yarn or fabric, the person who brings colors to fashion.

The labydyer is a craftsman, even an artisan at the same time. His working outfit is different from the rest. He wears leather, not for style but for protection. But he has an innate style.

In the labdyer’s honor, Isamu Katayama proposed leather as the fabric de rigueur, done in black, navy, cracked or dirty white, red, blue.

Sheepskin is washed indigo, down jackets are made of kangaroo, the riders jackets are garment dyed. Metal details appear in aluminum bonded designs, others show golden fasteners.

Shirts, ties and leather aprons are worn under woolen sets; wool is mixed with linen and garment dyed. The silhouette is wider than usual; the fit is relaxed yet you can still the outline of the torso.

The stretch shirt, the new basic for a few seasons now, is back in brindle fabrics or in plaid crumpled material. Leather leg warmers are worn with laced shoes, fur scarves and garment dyed bags complete the silhouette.

Hooray for the labdyer; hooray for the factory worker; hooray for the unsung heroes of the fashion industry, without whom the beauty of color we see in fashion will not be there.

Photos courtesy of Isamu Katayama Backlash