Miharayasuhiro has the Midas touch for SS14

In the sun-dappled surrounds of a courtyard in Paris' Ecole de Beaus Arts, Mihara Yasuuhiroa showed a serene series of looks that one might refer to as the designer's Blue Period. Yasuhiro wanted to shed light on an Japanese art form this season: rooketsu, whereby shades of blue are extracted from natural dyes of the Indigo plants, creating a rich range of blue hues on everything from butter-soft leathers to denims to batiks. Yasuhiro enlisted the help of second-generation artisan Naoyui Asai to create the colours, to beautiful effect. But the collection was far from monochromatic. Brilliantly illuminated by the gold leaf covering the models' hair, there were grungy shorts and slim-cut suits, blazers covered in ditzy blue florals and tailored pants emboldened by embroidered phoenix wings at the front pockets. Flourishes of feathers and gilded embroidery took this collection out of simply slick streetwear and into the realms of something a shade more fantastical.