Paris’ menswear designers give the classic suit a poetic makeover

In Paris, the classic suit gets a poetic makeover

PARIS — Billowing panels and fluttering swaths of fabric transformed the classic suit into something brooding, romantic and poetic as Paris menswear designers from Dior Homme to emerging Croatian talent Damir Doma served up voluminous silhouettes for spring-summer 2011 on Saturday.

Pants at both houses sat low on the hips, with drooping crotches and full hips, and seams were often left raw — in keeping with a minimalist statement at Dior and the hermetic aesthetic that reigned at Doma.

Belgium’s Raf Simons, in the other hand, was all clean lines and sharp angles, though his silhouette — futuristic, layered, uni-sexy shapes featuring body-hugging tunic vests and miniskirts — was no more conventional.

For men who can’t go to work dressed looking like a Hindu sadhu or a “Star Trek” crewmember, Kenzo served up inviting linen suits with just a dollop of zaniness. And for those with mile-deep pockets, luxury saddlemaker Hermes had a whole wardrobe full of yacht-ready looks in sumptuous cotton, linen and silk.

Besides drop-crotched pants, the other big look of the day on Paris catwalks was the vest with a vertiginous V-neck. In the two previous days of Paris’ four-day-long menswear marathon, the jumpsuit and Jesus sandals emerged as other big trends — to the detriment of the safe and sellable suit.

The French capital’s menswear displays wrap up on Sunday, with shows by much-coveted Paris label Lanvin and British madcap Paul Smith. Much of the fashion glitteratti will stay on through the City of Light’s rarified haute couture displays, which start early next month and feature made-to-measure gowns with price-tags resembling that of a nice new car.

DIOR HOMME

Less was more at Dior Homme, where designer Kris Van Assche’s ravishing collection of raw seams and flowing panels proved you can spend more for fewer finishings.

Deep-cut V-neck tank tops were left open down one side to expose a wide swath of skin. Blazers cut sharp through the shoulder, and lapels dissolved at what normally would have been the hemline into billowing lengths of fine wool fabric. Jackets were shorn of their closures, and long trenchcoats were missing their sleeves. The drop-crotched pants fit so low on the hips that one model on the verge of losing his had to stop and hitch them up.

Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, a devoted Dior Homme fan who’s usually on hand for the shows, praised the collection as “very elegant.”

“Dior suits are the best made in the world — nobody does clothes like that,” the ponytailed designer told The Associated Press in a backstage interview, adding that he and the male members of his posse were all wearing — tight — Dior suits.

Still, Lagerfeld, acknowledged he “may be a little old” for the flesh-exposing looks on Saturday’s catwalk. “You have to be very young” to wear such looks, said the spunky septuagenarian.

Designer Van Assche, a Belgian who showed his signature line on Friday, said he “wanted to show less to put all the attention to quality.”

“That for me is the real luxury. It’s not about sequins anymore,” he told The AP.

DAMIR DOMA

The Damir Doma man looked like an ascetic who’d just happened to stumble upon the catwalk during his hermetic wanderings.

The Croatian designer culled from different religious traditions, pairing his signature voluminous trenches and wide-cut blazers with dhotis that looked snatched off a Hindu sadhu or North African harem pants in earthy fibers. The cocoon coats, some in Franciscan brown, resembled a monk’s robes.

Doma swathed the models in nubby fringed blankets, making them look alternately like Himalayan aesthetics or Bedouin nomads. Muslim skullcaps topped all the looks, giving some of the models the air madrassa students.

It was an earnest and convincing display from a designer who’s widely considered among Paris’ most promising emerging talents.

KENZO

East met west at Kenzo, as the Paris-based label — founded by a Japanese designer — marked its fortieth birthday with a back-to-the-roots collection.

Designer Antonio Marras conjured up an imaginary voyage by a Parisian dandy to the Land of the Rising Sun of the early 20th century, fielding casual chic linen suits printed with Japanese watercolors. French sailor stripes were mixed with chunky knit cardigans and plaid pants.

“This artist, he returns to France and starts to take elements he picked up in Asia and mix them, creating his own style,” Marras, an Italian who also designs his own signature line, told The AP in a backstage interview. “We started with these two visions — Japanese and French — that are so vastly different, and the aim was to meld them. After all, that’s what Kenzo started as, that’s the heritage of the house.”

Like the label’s now-retired founder, Kenzo Takada, before him, Marras managed pulled it off with panache, fielding picture perfect garments for a sunny summer day.

HERMES

If you haven’t yet picked out your wardrobe for that yacht vacation, Hermes’ had just the thing for you: Designer Veronique Nichanian delivered a sumptuous collection of tasteful white linen suits and casual chic printed silk blouses that would feel right at home on even the highest-end of 200-plus-foot (60-plus-meter) yachts.

Well-toned models sported khaki blazers and safari jackets — with only one button done to better highlight their chiseled pecs — paired with white trousers that were neither wide nor narrow, neither long nor high-water, but simply the perfect cut. Cardigans in featherweight silk were layered beneath chunky sweaters and adorned with silk scarves knotted jauntily at the neck. A pair of silk pajama pants was worn alone, as if the model just rolled out of his cabin below deck.

Totes in buttery calfskin nodded to the leather-working tradition of the storied house, which got its start as a saddlemaker and has since morphed into a purveyor of ultra luxurious accessories and garments with cardiac arrest-inducing price tags.

Nichanian called the collection “nonchalant,” and it was just that — easy, classic, tasteful chic for the discriminating, yacht-set consumer.

RAF SIMONS

The Belgian designer gave men a breather, fitting the body-skimming, futuristic and androgynous looks with zippers that opened down the back.

Simons marked his signature label’s 15th anniversary with a show that revisited some of his silhouettes from seasons past — while keeping his gaze resolutely fixed on the future. Formfitting tunic vests were paired with ultra wide legged pants — both in blinding white microfiber. Plain-front shirts like doctors’ scrubs in hospital green were worn with little skirts layered over biker shirts, while another model wore a similar look in head-to-toe fuchsia knit.

Besides a handful of razor-cut suits, nearly all the tops zipped down the back, allowing them to be worn roomily or bodice-tight.

“There has been more and more liberation, you know about sexuality, gender, taking care of yourself but I think that men’s fashion itself doesn’t make those big steps,” Simons, who also designs for minimalist label Jil Sander, told The AP. “The open back is a way of making suggestions about new options, a new kind of feeling, new things to think about.”