Paris Fall 2012 Men’s Fashion Week Recap, Part 2

Mixing both classic suiting with more adventurous separates like striped tops and pants, high-top boots that mimicked those worn by boxers, and oversized coats made for a visually stimulating outing for Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz.

Leave it to Raf Simons to design a menswear collection that I imagine a lot of ladies, given its pulled-together streetstyle sensibility, would love to wear (and that’s not a bad thing). Among the standouts were fitted sweaters done in saturated colorways, slim cropped at the knee pants, and cloche-meets-hoodie hats – some tops even had strands of hair fastened to the top-middle portion for a quirky effect.

Clearly inspired by military dress, Dior Homme was heavy on olive-toned looks when it came to both the fitted separates as well as the roomier ones, which included a variety of cape coats.

Given that Paul Smith's designs can often conjure up images of bright and vibrant colors, it may have surprised many to see nary a sign of color in the designer’s menswear collection this season, despite the collection’s nautical theme. In fact, aside from a few prints on tops, there were few marks of the season’s inspiration with a slew of mostly closet staples making their way down the runway.

One comes to expect the unexpected from Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci and this season, with his nose ring-clad models walking the runway in bold prints and even bolder cuts, the designer lived up to expectations. Kilts, leather leggings, and crystal embellishments were some of the touches that popped up in the stars and stripes America-inspired collection.