Lanvin: The Insider's Choice in Menswear

Judging from the applause at the end of Lanvin's latest menswear runway show, the best received collection in Europe these past 10 days in either Milan or Paris was that of this storied French brand.

A cunning distillation of several ideas - the revival of the dandy, bohemian tailoring and sensitive chic - the collection won a standing ovation at its finale on the morning of Sunday, June 27, in Paris. Staged in the Mineralogy Gallery of Paris' elegant Botanical Gardens - the cast got dressed before man-sized crystals in the backstage - the collection was a great statement of libertine French gentleman's style. They were clothes that most every guy in the audience wanted to wear, and which women would love to see their husbands or boyfriends buy.

"Half the shows in Paris had men skirts; so we thought a little jewelry would not go amiss," joked the house's creative director Alber Elbaz post show. It was not shy jewelry, by the way, but massive chokers, leather pendants with grommets and shells on neck chains.

The house - a major trend maker in footwear - also showed striking, new sandals with tire style soles and cloth tops, that will be very influential. Elbaz is arguably the finest draper currently designing women's clothes, and he lent some of that skill to a natty series of jerseys that curled around the upper torso heroically. And, just when one felt the looks were getting a bit too much, Elbaz and the house's men's director Lucas Ossendrijver socked you with some active sportswear mixes - like track jackets, vertical stripe jockey tops or brilliantly cut jogging pants.


But the high point was the open-seamed, arty, rascally tailoring; deliberately looking a tad aged and lived-in, climaxing with bubbly crepe suits in dazzling hues of imperial purple and faded gold. "We wanted to get away from the whole macho thing, from the stigma of being sensitive," added the designer, as models knocked back champagne on the sun-filled gallery steps.