
A model wears a creation by Italian designer Riccardo Tisci as part of Givenchy men’s Fall-Winter 2016/2017 fashion collection presented in Paris, France, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
PARIS (AP) — There were some surprising turns in Friday’s, Jan. 22, installment of Paris Fashion Week’s menswear shows: Maison Margiela went slouchy under John Galliano, while Givenchy’s normally sports-obsessed Riccardo Tisci went the other way, buckling up and going dapper.
Here are the highlights of the fall-winter 2016-17 shows.
GIVENCHY CHANGES DIRECTION
In an intimate setting with neon lights and a snaking runway, Riccardo Tisci presented one of his most wearable — and dapper— Givenchy collections to date. There was less of a focus than normal in the creative pot and less intellectual musing — but this didn’t seem to matter. The clothes spoke for themselves.
The Italian-born designer mixed up and successfully merged styles as diverse as Texan shirts, boots and belt buckles, Savile Row-style tailored suits, sporty hoodies, croc insets, Arab stone inlay-effects, and the random image of a cobra that cropped up aggressively on stylish silken bomber jackets and sweaters.
The 54-look-display marks a welcome departure from the strong sport-aesthetic Tisci has used in recent seasons.
It’s a decision perhaps to boost sales as Givenchy’s menswear line expands around the world.
Standout looks included a luxuriant multicolored fur coat with silver-white, brown, tan, blue and flecks of pinks, and a gorgeous woolen tan bomber worn to devastating effect with some classic gray marl pants.
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MARGIELA GOES 1990s
It was a return to the era of grunge for Maison Margiela.
Shaggy-haired male adolescent-looking models stomped in boots with sweeping sleeveless duffel coats.
Then, the sleeves on a lace-effect brown knit sweater hung slouchily beyond the models’ hands, almost evoking the spirit of Kurt Cobain.
Ski salopettes made an unlikely appearance on the high fashion catwalk — worn with funky style, against pant details that included uber-’90s white denim insets and even a chain-mail effect knit sweater.
The collection also showcased some enviable long length, or luxuriant-looking, coats that cut a dashing figure and drew contrast with the grunge-musing.
It was a typically varied collection that was at times hard to pin down.
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CERRUTI’S ELEGANT SOPHISTICATE
In a season of the slouchy, skinny adolescent — at last a collection for the elegant sophisticate!
For fall-winter, Cerruti made a welcome move in channeling sartorial elegance and grew up from last season’s rather young-looking display.
A teal blue silken suit was followed by a blue leather coat, a wine-colored shirt, a cobalt cable knit sweater, a sheeny silver plaid double breasted jacket and some beautiful loose burnt sienna pants.
It was — for most of the saleable 31-looks — a safe collection.
But who needs to be daring, when the clothes ooze comfort and luxury in a beautifully conceived palette?
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Thomas Adamson can be followed at http://Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP
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