This was published 12 years ago
'Tis the season to be jolly
For summer 2012, the big designers have given men permission to relax and play with colour, writes Susan Owens in Paris.
By Susan Owens
You can't stop an Englishman thinking ''London 2012 Olympics'' - even when he is charged with designing French menswear for the world's strongest luxury brand, Louis Vuitton.
At the closing day of the Paris 2012 summer menswear collections, it was Kim Jones, with his debut collection, who played a near perfect game for Vuitton.
Vibrant ... Louis Vuitton.
In the four months since his appointment as men's design director, Jones conjured up a collection that celebrated the essence of the brand's philosophy (and Jones's private passion) - travel - and at once drew on his African childhood, channelling Masai blankets to play Vuitton's monogram card.
Brushing aside those vivid red and cornflower-blue fringed scarves, he suited men with elegant and effortless preppy-on-vacation charm.
Suits (pants rolled up at the cuff) were worn with contrasting jackets and trousers. A plethora of shorts were topped with zippered or drawstring jackets and blousons.
Never veering from travel, Jones hinted at African safaris and - as always - this was a platform for Vuitton's supreme travel bags. Everything seemed ready to run, down to the flat-pack, rubber-sole (Birkenstock-inspired chic) sandals and the tuxedo-shorts suit.
"Australian men will love this," said Nick Smith, editor of GQ Australia. "It feels so outdoor, so sporty. The bags were winning. And Jones delivered on the high expectations of a new designer."
At Hermes, the one true and enduring status symbol brand, designer Veronique Nichanian's lightness of touch distilled luxe down to a teal suede T-shirt and shorts. Sounds heavy? Not in the hands of the masterful Hermes atelier workers.
In the colonnaded, flower-filled central garden of the Paris School of Medicine, this was sheer, unencumbered summer spirit for a loyal, global clientele. Lean suits, bermudas, drawstring-waist trousers and pyjama pants - even a double-breasted tux - were all worn with sandals, in shades including Hermes burnt orange and Hussar blue.
The breezy mood (even for a customer who never works up a sweat) delivered open-weave tees, two-tone cardigan-jackets, poplin trousers with faded stripes, madras linen jackets, twill and seersucker. Ties are out of sight for summer, hijacked by an irreverent lime, azure-blue or saffron scarf. And the man totes, including the ''gherkin'' - the fashion pack's name for the man's Birkin - got a big vote.
Kris Van Assche's assumption that a white suit is the right suit for Dior Homme ruled out the fact that, other than in the wardrobe of New York author Tom Wolfe, for whom it's a sartorial signature, it's a ghostly aesthetic addition.
The dominant colour in his show - in single- and double-breasted suits, others with Nehru collars and flowing sleeveless vests or knee-length coats - finally gave way to beautiful putty suits, with tan details in the collar or belt, and teal blue and black, with wide-brimmed black hats. But the last suit out - white again - was the unnecessary exclamation mark.
The five-day menswear collections opened as designer John Galliano stood trial for seven hours on anti-Semitism charges, relating to his outburst, praising Hitler, in a Paris cafe in March.
When it came time for the designer's own show (the house is owned by Dior parent company LVMH), Bill Gaytten, who has worked beside Galliano for 23 years, took the bow in front of a packed audience.
It was dandy - a nod to artist David Hockney's '60s, London-boy style - summed up in an ivory shorts suit, with a pastel pink and blue V-neck vest, floppy pink bow tie, two-tone shoes and azure knee socks.
The Italians got in first with the sport theme that rippled gently through Paris. Jean Paul Gaultier's shorts - purple and green tartan (with tartan knee socks), Hawaiian print, sunray pleated and orange with a white embroidery print - were sheer Gaultier good humour. So, too, were the celebrated French-Gaultier staples, such as the red and white check shorts with a blue and white horizontal-striped polo shirt.
Alexis Mabille did sport with gym-ready track pants, swags of tees blazing his name and full-body swimsuits with scoop necks. A marine moment also spiked Viktor & Rolf, the Dutch design duo, who channelled the image of a dolphin, screen-printing it on to tees and using it as a print for vests and shirts. Their contrasting suit jackets and trousers in biscuit, lemon, sky blue and soft terracotta looked at ease and fresh with summer in mind.
Dries Van Noten (does he know something from a long-range weather forecaster?) topped much of his show with lightweight raincoats. He's forgone the prints that built his small but loyal following in Australia (fans should look no further than Kenzo's striking collection) in favour of sophisticated, darker hues and an architecturally sharper silhouette, saying he is more focused on technologically advanced fabrics. Still, there was sheer joy in his continuing red, white and blue stripe theme - from an inserted V on a blouson to shorts, shirts and wide-legged trousers.
Volume dominated the runway at Yohji Yamamoto and Rick Owens. Since Yamamoto fans are unswerving in their devotion, these ultra-wide pants over slimmer pants, giant overshirts, bronze ankle-grazing culottes and flying coats answered the call in ever-increasing volume. From basic black, the show was punctuated with colour - sage, a small black-cherry print, pink ticking trousers and a lime-green suit.
In contrasting volumes, Owens's monkish mode went from narrow floor-length tunics to three- and four-piece suits of a single-button jacket over sleeveless tops and floor-length skirts. His raw silk palette of shadow greys enforced the severity of the mood and showed a designer who is unswerving in his assuredness.
That same confidence is clear in Raf Simons's handwriting - where an inner discipline edits his aesthetic to exquisite, suited tailoring, interrupted only by wildly refreshing pastel-through-plum tartans in sleeveless tops, jackets and swinging topcoats.
Who was newly noticed this season? Adam Kimmel with a first runway collection in Paris (with barefoot models) he called ''dark surfing''. Alexandre Mattiussi's debut Ami show was a small coup that ran the gamut of an entire wardrobe - starting with jeans - but had youthful, approachable charm. Arashi Yanagawa's John Lawrence Sullivan show borrowed the sheer fabrics usually reserved for womenswear and showed that a former professional boxer (in Japan) can morph into a fashion designer.