Menswear at Paris Fashion Week

Paris menswear is back: Louis Vuitton and Jean-Paul Gaultier showed Fall 2010 collections there this week, in addition to other designers, including Japan’s Issey Miyake and Belgium’s Dries Van Noten. At Vuitton, Paul Helbers said that he was inspired by turn-of-the-century Vienna for the inspiration for a line that included classic designs that mixed staples such as cashmere and leather with high-tech fabrics like microfiber. Celebrity attendees included Kanye West and girlfriend Amber Rose, who arrived in matching floor-length fur coats. Gaultier’s show was even more surprising, as the designer sent models down the runway in boxing-inspired looks, complete with fake blood and Everlast gloves. And for his final bow, the designer even trotted out bloodied and battered himself—wearing a robe and towel. Adam Kimmel's show, meanwhile, got freaky: Models were dressed as gamblers, with horrifying masks of demented clowns (inspired by George Condo’s paintings). Kimmel’s strappings included lush velvet double-breasted blazers, bowties, vests, and capes. Even more disturbing, however, is the new trends sweeping menswear: “Meggings”—a combo of men's sweats and leggings—which have been all over Paris.