Since joining Hérve Léger as creative director, Michelle Ochs has remained steady in her aim: How do you take a brand with such a singular history and continue to evolve, while not alienating your core customer?
“It’s a woman who’s loved the brand and followed it,” Ochs said during a showroom appointment. “They already have the dresses that are similar. It’s finding new ways to look at it, because she’s still there.”
It’s a step-by-step evolution that has seen her take her well-known design codes and inject new textures and treatments to create unexpected ways of looking at the bandage fabric. Case in point: Her color-blocked pieces, which she said have been a hit at retail. “It’s a beautiful way to break up the bandage. It’s very graphic.” Ochs has a milestone trip planned, so she channeled a “what would I wear on vacation” energy into her spring offering, adding a mix of soft hued, mood lifting pastels. All easily packable, versatile and full of joy.
Other updates she has folded in since she joined: soft metallics; hardware details; a new soft jersey — seen here on a mix of separates; a basket weave that is light and airy, and taking a look at proportions. It’s these simple tweaks that make the brand feel modern, but still very much in the DNA of what was created all those years ago.
Shows have only just started in New York, but a mood of optimism is blooming so far, and Ochs is right in step.
