TikTok has discovered Hervé Léger. As seen with Y2K, indie sleaze, boho-chic, Vivienne Westwood corsets, and the Jean Paul Gaultier’s chromatic dot prints, young people’s excavation of the fashion’s treasures of yore—as in, pre-social media—can lead to commercial gain. It’s a simple formula, to mine the now-stalgia that transforms yesterday’s fashion into today’s trends, but it’s all about timing.
Michelle Ochs has been at the Léger label now for long enough to know what works. Her instinct to embrace the house language of body-first cut and stretch fabrications as opposed to resisting it has proven fruitful. And her recent resort and spring seasons are performing well on the retail floors, she reports. Now, the internet is taking notice. A quick search on the canceled-and-then-not social media app reveals a handful of videos by influencer types testing out Ochs’s Legér, and a recently posted deep-dive into the brand’s famous bandage dress has 2 million views and counting. “But it’s not just about the bandage—people are rediscovering the brand,” said Ochs at a preview of her new lineup.
Here Ochs has continued to extrapolate on her ingenious interpretations of the bandage language. The more editorial iterations feature cascades of fringe falling from the knit panels—these will do well with the Hollywood set. But more compelling is the way Ochs is renewing the bandage to make it more relevant today—by adding contrast linework details at the waist that will help with visually sculpting the figure, and playing with mesh material blocking and inserts to create “dimension.”
The opening look in this slideshow features a one-shouldered dress with a bandage peplum and a skirt that appears to unravel. This, together with a dress that combines a knit bra top with a silky paneled skirt, strike the right balance between put-togetherness and ease. Ochs is pushing further into daywear, too. It’s an honest effort that may prove most effective in styles like a charming button-up A-line dress, which is still fun and playful but more realistic for daytime than a classic Léger bodycon mini. “Hervé—but through new eyes,” is how Ochs described these expansions. That rings true.
