PARIS - A trio of newcomers breathed new life into Paris menswear on Friday, with displays that ran the gamut from sober minimalism to Gothic excess.
Riccardo Tisci, who has been heading the women's division at Givenchy since 2005, presented his first men's collection for the French label. Spanish designer Rosemary Rodriguez made her entry into menswear at Thierry Mugler, while Cerruti gambled on Belgium's Jean-Paul Knott to revive its flagging fortunes.
Countless designers have tried - and failed - to resurrect Cerruti, which has struggled financially since its sale by Italian founder Nino Cerruti in 2000. The label now belongs to private equity firm MatlinPatterson, which intends to revitalize the brand.
Knott wisely stuck to what he does best: flawless tailoring. Stripping his palette to basic black, white and gray, he showed crisp suits with concealed buttons that were paired with slightly translucent raincoats and simple gray espadrilles.
It made for a pleasant palate cleanser amid the glut of exotica that has invaded the men's spring-summer collections.
"I thought it was perfect," Julian Cerruti, the son of the founder, told The Associated Press. "He has really managed to respect the essence of what Cerruti was and to bring the novelty of his own personality to it."
Tisci took more risks with his Givenchy collection, sending out models in leather shorts worn with cropped leggings and zip-up boots festooned with gladiator-style straps.
He managed to give a kinky edge to everything from a beige rugby jersey featuring a strip of black lace at the chest to a Day-Glo pink lace shirt that revealed glimpses of a full-body tattoo.
Rodriguez kept it simple at Mugler with crisp suits, some featuring contrasting piping at the pockets and lapels, and white combat trousers with zippered pockets.
But an icy blue crocodile skin waistcoat with a kimono collar was a reminder of the flamboyance of the house's founder, who has retired from ready-to-wear to focus on his hugely successful line of perfumes, which include Angel and Alien.
Elsewhere, both Kenzo and John Galliano drew inspiration from India, tapping into the current trend for ethnic-flavored fashion, as luxury groups focus their growth plans on emerging markets to counteract a slump in Western economies.
The theme was treated rather literally at Kenzo. Models whose eyes were smeared with black kohl paraded in silk jackets encrusted with burnished copper coins and feather-light cotton dhoti pants.
Galliano shook up the Indian references (Madras checks and long tunics) with dashes of punk and techno attitude. Models stomped down an asphalt strip in a go-karting venue outside Paris wearing combat pants featuring a zip-off kilt panel in the back.
Young men in full drag queen makeup paraded in swimsuits and pink wigs in an homage to British writer and gay icon Quentin Crisp.
Godfrey Deeny, senior fashion critic at Fashion Wire Daily, had his own explanation for the current India craze.
"I think it's an example of everyone thinking that the economy is going to be very bad, and the wealthy consumer is going to get a severance package and take a long sabbatical and work on his novel in Goa," he told The AP.
