Even without explanation, it was obvious that Caroline Hu was mining more from her dream theme that emerged last season. From the padded (handmade) flower cutouts floating across tulle that resembled bed quilting, to the enlarged volumes that looked like duvets skillfully transformed into gowns, her succinct lineup of 17 looks made multiple associations with slumber. Add birdsong as part of the soundtrack and exaggeratedly mussed hair, and it would seem as though we were catching these ingenues as they awoke from an afternoon nap in nature. But when asked backstage, Hu said that the collection, titled “Daydream” offered more than an ode to sleeping beauties. “I feel the world is harder and harder—it’s cruel—so that’s why I wanted to show something more romantic.”

Or else, poetic, since each creation delivered different harmonies of material and craft (my seat mate, Serge Carreira, the Federation’s emerging brands director, nailed it with “tulle poems”). The opening dress in gauzy tulle adorned with delicate dimensional floral embroideries—their yarns left in long trails—was sheer without being see-through, except for the pockets that brought focus to resting hands. Further on, a floor-length cape in a carpet of tufted tulle with sheer panels that was almost surreal, like Ernst’s “Robing of the Bride,” only in pink tulle instead of feathers.

While anything dream-related usually begs interpretation, the collection was mainly satisfying for surface details that were in plain sight—the feathers encircling a warm-up jacket worn over a multi-colored smoked frock or abstract prints developed from Hu’s own paintings that covered some of the pillowy gowns. Pairing the looks worn with velvety Adidas Originals—the continuation of their collaboration—reaffirmed the youthful, edgier side of this fairytale vision. “It is more modern for me,” said Hu. “I don’t want pretty-pretty.”