Paris menswear week winds down with Dior, Lanvin

The young Belgian designer was on-trend with his collection for Dior, showing the kinds of sleeveless jackets and translucent shirts that have dominated Paris' catwalks over the past four days.

But altogether the collection was a difficult one, resurrecting rumors of Van Assche's imminent departure that have surfaced on and off since he took over from Dior Homme's wildly popular former designer Hedi Slimane in 2007. Still, there was no official suggestion that Van Assche was about to get the ax.

At Lanvin, menswear designer Lucas Ossendrijver veered away from the label's signature soft romantic silhouette, sending out models that looked like fashion-forward petty thieves, in dark shades and pencil-thin, penciled-on mustaches.

Paul Smith delivered the kind of snug suits the British label is known for, reaching back into its archive to infuse the collection with rock-star details.

Paris' menswear displays end Monday, with just three shows by smaller, lesser-known labels. The fashion world will descend on the city again early next month for the opulent haute couture shows.

DIOR HOMME

Hedi Slimane is one hard act to follow.

On the one hand, the fashion establishment wants more of Slimane's snug rocker suits -- so enticing and slim-fitting that legend has it they prompted Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld to diet in order to fit into one.

But on the other hand, Van Assche -- a young Belgian who became a critical success with his own, eponymous line -- has been under enormous pressure to forge his own blockbuster look for Dior.

While Sunday's collection, with its profusion of sheer suits with fluttering raw seams and visible shoulder-pads, was certainly unique, its selling power is far from guaranteed.

After all, sleeveless jackets with jutting shoulders, low-crotched high-water pants and sheer Mao-collared shirts that gave the models a faintly Amish air are simply not money in the bank, at least in this retail market.

Perhaps that was why Dior Chairman Bernard Arnault, France's richest man, was pulling such a dour face during the display. Granted, it could have been the heat, which had everyone in the crowd -- which included Lagerfeld -- schvitzing.

Or perhaps Arnault was fretting about how to market the collection.

At this difficult time for retail -- when many other labels have gone back to the basics, delivering conservative, traditional menswear -- how does one sell a collection that lacks elements as basic as blazer sleeves?

LANVIN

This was a new Lanvin man, a petty thief in dark shades -- at once dandified and potentially dangerous.

Menswear designer Ossendrijver toned down the foppish details and lustrous fabrics of seasons past for a crisper silhouette of tapered, high-waisted pants in shiny microfiber, cuffed shorts and sleeveless blazers. The dark palette of blacks and grays was punctuated by bursts of emerald green and dusty ruby.

"For a lot of seasons we have been exploring softness, and I think the softness is still in the clothes, but the image is more edgy," Ossendrijver told reporters in a post-show interview.

He said for this collection, Lanvin's design team had "gone out of the laboratory and down onto the street" to figure out what real -- fashion-conscious -- men wear and need.

"It's the anti-uniform," he said.

What the edgy collection lacked in romantic flair, the venue -- an ornate, historic theater in western Paris -- more than made up for. Lit with dim scarlet lights, the Salle Wagram had the decadent feel of a 19th century cabaret.

PAUL SMITH

Models at pulled out their best Michael Jackson moves, shaking it to "Thriller" as they took a riotous final lap around the catwalk.

Smith, who designed for the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin early in his career, said the collection was an homage to both the musicians of yesteryear and today's rockers.

He send out shimmering mica-colored jackets with extra wide lapels -- "like I made for David Bowie," Smith said -- as well as snug, lightweight suits that looked sure to appeal to the likes of indie rock group Franz Ferdinand, current fans of the British label.

"I was mixing (looks from) today and from the beginning of my career," the affable designer told The Associated Press in a backstage interview.

Interesting new takes on perennial menswear staples included a hybrid between a blazer and a letterman jacket, in washed silk, and a white windbreaker that mimicked a button-down shirt.

Smith, who is known for his bold use of color, started the show with sober slate and charcoal hues, with the vibrant shades reserved for the royal purple and orange socks.

The color came at the end of the show, with a virtual rainbow of head-to-toe monochrome looks.

As Michael Jackson blasted over the speakers, models in a blood-orange rain slicker, pants and matching suede loafers or in top-to-bottom peacock blues, dusty pinks or mauve shimmied, improvising their best "moonwalks" in homage to the late King of Pop.