Interview

Louis Vuitton: Send me a Messenger
 
Every cloud has a silver lining. If there's one good thing about the financial crisis it's that Paris is  giving all that luxury glitz a rest. Nowhere was this more evident than at Louis Vuitton, where men's Studio Director Paul Helbers traded in the house's usual mink-for-all for big city men on bikes in a hurry. Louis' butterfly messenger boys have their keys hanging around their neck on a cord even when they're wearing a suit. Antoine Arnault, son of LVMH's chairman Bernard, sat next to Keziah Jones, who once again looked like the man of the moment,  just down the front row from the Black Eyed Peas. A taxi-yellow washed linen racing blazer, a pair of rolled cuff fleece shorts, simple zip pullover and car shoes are really all the chic you need.     


Dries Van Noten: Pattern Bright
 
So often the simplest pleasures are the finest, like when the DJ for Dries Van Noten's show, held on the steps of the Paris Bourse, pulled up in the back of a U-Haul truck. The stunt set the mood for a collection which was all about the elegance of making do, or as the show notes put it, "Tokyo meets Calcutta in a mix of the rigorous with the irregular." That translated into slim and cropped shapes, from judo pants to sharp-shouldered double breasted jackets served up in a united nations of prints from batik and ikat to dark English plaids, jacquards, polkadots and checks all piled one on top of the other for a wallpapered look down to the pocket squares, flip flops and socks.