Paris Fashion Week Runway Collection

Men's catwalk exploded the runway with fireworks emanating from designer collections at Paris Fashion Week. The week just got over on 29th of June lightening the sartorial load on the ramp with ultra light fabrics. Bold prints, harem pants, slim fitted trousers, tailored look and beefy sailor looks ruled the runway. Cuts came through at Hugo Boss from a 1980's take on tailoring. The German suit maker also sent out a collection fit for the beaches of a chic French beach resort. Heavy metal sequins covering several well-cut jackets sparkled like scales. The looks were eye-catching, but gave even style maverick Adrian Brody look.

Colour took centre-stage at the Paris-based Japanese label Issey Miyake, as designer Dai Fujiwara sent out Turkish-inspired harem pants and short suits in turquoise, ceylon and Persian blues; embellished with geometric mosaic designs and eye-popping tulip prints. Triangles and hexagons woven into a cotton fabric turned a generously cut summer jacket into a delicate mosaic.
This time, translucence was the key for Calvin Klein. The opening outfit set the tone- a transparent onyx parka over Lycra shorts, in keeping with what has become the Zucchelli tradition of extreme sportswear. If the designer's signature collection was an exercise in adult restraint, this outing felt like an experiment in quirk. Emporio Armani show cased wrinkly things, scaly designs, burgundy leather mesh, sober suits, and lots of orange, deluxe oriental fabrications; long johns, models on BMX bikes and a tiny child in pinstripes.

Givenchy adopted for a flying wedge of his peers and gave the clothes a ferociously sexy athleticism using high-performance fabrics in a mosaic like print founded on the star motif. The short-over-leggings silhouette was predominant in his version of a sports uniform.  John Galliano as bizarre as ever, showcased the usual wall-to-wall spectacle, with an unusual cast of thousands, painted and garbed to resemble anyone but themselves. Separately all pieces are wearable. The theme was Napoleon's rise and the Napster being a character that Galliano effectively identifies with the show's arc.

Massimiliano Giornetti is known for his expertise in sublimating his inspirations into the grander design of Salvatore Ferragamo. This season he was influenced by the colours and textures of Africa but in transforming his impressions, he managed to produce a collection that was unutterably Italian. The recipe for the new Lanv in collection this season was Lightness, colour, desire and a lot of work. A tiny bow on a neckline, another at the waist, kimono-cut shirts, high-waist khakis, a green coat in what looked like crepe, puff sleeves, shorts in tie silk are the feminine flourishes that distinguished the label.

This time Yohji Yamamoto show cased simple clothe with little details. The palette, fabrics, silhouettes were much the same as always- black, indigo blue, linen, cupro and oversized. But the designer had slipped in a little subtext, his name written in Cyrillic script inside the breast pocket of jackets. The audience for Raf Simons' show was sitting in a beautiful garden, looking at a snake or at least a snake printed on a pair of jeans. The belts woven around the bodies of the be suited Adams were also serpentine. The logo on the backside of the jeans was with the snake coiling in an S shape.

The design included knit torso with cloth jacket shoulders and jackets whose sleeves were slashed open like something from the Renaissance. The unlocking key of Stefano Pilati's latest enigmatic collection was the T-shirt he was wearing when he took his bow. Pilati introduced the collection with a short film made by director Samuel Benchetr it. Yves Saint Laurent jackets were cutaway, low in front, higher in back, which gave an illusion of urgency, like the models were leaning forward. Over all, it was a fun and colourful voyage to menswear fashion at the Paris do.