Backstage after Hervé Léger, designer Lubov Azria talked about strong women. As though you could be anything else if you wanted to slip into one of these skintight sheaths. Aptly, Spring was inspired by Japan’s onna-bugeisha, women warriors who, when necessity dictated, took up arms right alongside the samurai.

Azria and her husband, Max, took it one step further, imagining what this woman’s life journey must have been like, from being a fierce fighter to finding her femininity after hanging up her battle gear. To that end, looks evolved from traditional kimono prints and silhouettes at the start to softer fare, registered by a muted color palette, by the finale. Interestingly, though, the bright shibori-inspired patterns and extra folds of fabric denoting the warrior phase actually served to soften the strong body-con silhouette that is synonymous with Hervé Léger.

But rest assured, there were plenty of body-hugging bandage dresses. As the warrior shed her armor, out came dresses that celebrated the female form, with banding, beading, hardware, and corset closures calling attention to the bust, waist, and hips. Colors ran from soft pinks and dove to the requisite black. Kudos to the Azrias for figuring out so many ways to work a bandage dress season after season. If nothing else, their impetus is the swath of hard- and curvy-bodied actresses who sit front-row. (So good to see Orange Is the New Black’s Laverne Cox out of her prison scrubs.)