Rick Owens

The new creative director appointments at Dior Men and Louis Vuitton garnered much of the week’s buzz, but the scene stealing show came from Rick Owens. His take on the Tower of Babel in the courtyard of Palais de Toyko, with billowing dyed clouds of toxic smelling smoke (the invitation was a face mask) asked timely questions about control versus chaos. The tent-like structures in the finale weren’t just for catwalk theatrics, they’re nylon ponchos that come with a set of poles for self-assembly should you so desire. Die-hard Owens fans form a queue now.

Dior Men

A romantic reset for the brand from new artistic director Kim Jones. Mining the archive, he referenced Christian Dior the man, collaborating with the artist Kaws on a CD BFF doll and a take on the Dior Bumblebee motif. Tailoring came in pastel shades with one neon yellow pop, the use of couture techniques usually employed for gowns were applied to masculine jackets, bringing a lightness. Floral prints came from Dior’s porcelain collection. CD belt buckles, also used as baseball cap fastenings, nodded to Jones’s streetwear roots and played to the fashion-hungry Instagram audience.

Lanvin

‘I wanted to go beyond streetwear, to find a new form of sophistication, to place value on design and craftsmanship,’ said Lucas Ossendrijver about his SS19 Lanvin collection. Showing in a dimly lit space that put the spotlight firmly back on the clothes. Multi-functional, sometimes reversible, pieces had a hybrid style; suits were broken up with utility pieces such as fisherman vests. The handbag trend was ticked off with bucket bags. Shirt prints were provided by a tattoo artist.

Comme des Garçons

A collection of ‘Crazy Suits’ from Comme des Garçons Homme Plus. The show opened with camo suits fashioned from 3D gauzy leaves and styled with Max Headroom hairdos before moving into candy-coloured checks and vibrant stripes that ruched up like a window blind, turning trousers into shorts. Tailoring is back in the menswear conversation after a notable absence, albeit in a remixed way.

Alexander McQueen

Inspired by artist Francis Bacon and photographer John Deakin, the big takeaways from Alexander McQueen were beautiful tailoring and trench coats. Waistcoats are a key theme for next summer. Ditto the trench, here it came in eye-catching pink leather, traditional camel and with a slashed-cape sleeve, cropped, and a hybrid of a classic trench spliced together with a black overcoat. Knitwear patterns looked like paint spoldges on an artist’s palette.

Louis Vuitton

Virgil’s Abloh’s much-awaited debut at Louis Vuitton played with themes from the Wizard of Oz, with prints of Judy Garland as Dorothy decorating jackets. The rainbow provided the block colour palette for the collection and the runway. It chimed with the pride rainbows that decorated Paris and highlighted the inclusivity of the new Vuitton. The show notes included a map pinpointing the birth place of the models and their parents: ‘Essential to my show concept is a global view on diversity linked to the travel dna of the brand,’ Abloh explained.

Paul Smith

A return to an emphasis on tailoring for Paul Smith, with double-breasted suits and blazers that referenced an 80s exaggerated silhouette, all inspired by a history of subculture synonymous with British style. An injection of off-kilter pastel brought classic checks up to date. Photography of beach scenes and palm trees by both Paul and his father appear throughout the collection as prints on macs and shirts. Checkerboard socks provided the fun.

Loewe

Rainbow pompoms covered the floor of the Loewe showroom. Surrealist themes peppered the collection (slippers embroidered with trompe l’oeil bare feet and art photographer Duane Michaels provided the visuals – a series of deliberately absurd scenarios, such as a model at a sewing machine finishing the coat he is wearing). A Disney collaboration saw Dumbo (the live-action remake of the classic animation due in 2019) emblazoned on a leather back pack and check pyjama-style two piece. Light hearted and uplifting.

Issey Miyake Men

Issey Miyake Men explored the blurred boundaries between work and play. Now that office work can be done on a laptop in a cafe or a park and not exclusively at a desk, it means that corporate workwear wardrobes need to adapt, too. This meant an influx of shorts for those ‘sun everywhere’ days that the collection was named after and relaxed shirting in breezy cuts that don’t need to be worn with a suit. A breath of fresh air.

Raf Simons

Making his Paris return after a four-season Pitti Uomo and New York hiatus, Simons opted for a standing show format in a dark night-club style venue. Clothes took on an eveningwear direction with a take on an opera coat in jewel-toned duchesse satin, a fabric used in haute couture womenswear. It’s a trend that bubbled in Paris with John Galliano’s designs for Maison Margiela. Elsewhere, prints of punks decorated T-shirts, and satin bags.