AP News, July 1st, 2007
The difference between one suit and another is often as subtle as the placing of a button _ a fact highlighted at the Paris menswear shows on Saturday, where the focus was on precision cut and luxurious fabrics.
Hermes, the storied house that started life as a saddlemaker, featured patinated calfskin, cashmere and silk twill in its colonial-feel collection of crisp seersucker suits and belted travel jackets.
Italian designer Stefano Pilati conjured images of mid-century artists like Jackson Pollock and Jasper Johns in his display for Yves Saint Laurent, with colored paint splashed on canvas jackets and pants.
The outfits at Thierry Mugler ran the gamut from sporty white trousers with multipocket details to hooded Lycra tops studded with Swarovski crystals for a chameleon effect.
Everywhere, there were variations on the suit, which is making a comeback thanks to a younger generation captivated by stylish rock stars like Scottish band Franz Ferdinand and British singer Pete Doherty, the boyfriend of supermodel Kate Moss.
At Mugler, American designer Thomas Engelhart cut suits close to the body in fabrics ranging from metallic gray linen to cerulean wool.
"Because it's cut in this really modern way, what would have been this kind of disgusting polyester box 10 years ago actually makes you look thin, it shows off your muscles a little bit and you don't feel like a total loser," Engelhart told The Associated Press.
"I think in a way, you always want to look like your dad, or look like Harrison Ford if you're from my generation. There's all these male archetypes that are quite important," he added.
Unlike their fathers, however, men now prefer to mismatch jackets and pants to avoid looking too formal.
Pilati dressed down his crisp linen blazers with flowing silk trousers that looked like pajama bottoms. The designer is a big proponent of the oversized volumes that have dominated women's wear this year, and he saw them also filtering into the male wardrobe.
Artist's smocks inspired wide jackets in crinkled cotton with extra-large pockets. Roomy sweaters in dusty shades of blue were cropped to float around the waist.
The same sense of understated elegance permeated Veronique Nichanian's outfits for Hermes. With a palette of black and clay, spiced up with pepper and aniseed, they blended perfectly into the serene show backdrop of a former convent.
A deep V-neck cashmere sweater, worn with nothing but swimming shorts and slim leather sandals, was both nonchalant and supremely stylish, providing you have the buffed body to carry it off.
Nothing strayed too far from the brand's reputation for bourgeois dressiness. Rather, the innovation was in the texture of the featherlight knits and suede hoodies lined with silk.
Some labels have opted to forgo the catwalk entirely in favor of static displays that put the onus on such details.
Didier Grumbach, head of French fashion's governing body, said the showroom-style presentations were welcome in a season that has been cut back to four days from the usual five to allow editors to travel to Rome for Italian designer Valentino's 45th anniversary celebrations.
"It is creating some tensions," he acknowledged.
