PARIS (AP) — The snow fell in Paris all day, blanketing the left bank's grand Fine Arts School, the stage for Lanvin's fall-winter 2013 show.
The snowy cover saw the building reduced to all white — distilling its 19th-century stones to pure form and shapes.
It's perhaps appropriate that designers Alber Elbaz and Lucas Ossendrijver thus chose to explore shapes and proportions for their menswear collection.
With a futurist and sporty edge, 46 looks saw some of the silhouettes expanded out in baggy coats, boxy jackets, and voluminous pants with a low slung crotch.
But then others were shrunk, for instance, in a sexy fitted black leather jacket with square geometric sections, a tight pentagon-shaped tank top, or skinny pants.
While many of the individual ensembles looked incredibly slick — the diverse play on proportion made the collection as a whole feel a little like the silhouette couldn't quite make up its mind.
The colors got it right. Like last season, there was a lot of black, but the palette included a great tonal range of blues: from dark midnight blue, to a warm blue on big parkas and jackets, and the softest see-through blue.
With its mixture of classical tailoring and a fashion-forward attitude, Elbaz has transformed the storied house since he took over in 2001.
Lanvin is, and continues to be, one of the hottest tickets at Paris fashion week.
Its front-row turnout on Sunday's show is testament to this, including singer Kanye West and artist Aaron Young.
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Thomas Adamson can be followed at http://Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP