Ninjas, workmen invade city at Paris menswear

Urban elegance with a twist was the watchword at the autumn-winter menswear shows in Paris on Friday as city suits met workman’s blues, ninja neoprene, luxurious leather and slinky knits.

The Dutch designer Kris Van Assche took two “cliches” of menswear — a banker’s suit and labourer’s overalls — as his starting point, combining them to create a look part white- part blue-collar.

Slim-fitting black and grey jackets and crisp white shirts were paired with giant-legged pants in bold boilersuit blue, cropped at mid-calf over low, chunky laced boots.

“Workers need protective gear, but now with the crisis it is the bankers who need that protection,” Van Assche told reporters backstage following the show at the historic Beaux Arts art school on the south bank of the Seine.

Hair slicked back for the city, his models’ heavy shoes suggested a metal-capped boot, with protective sides to their glasses, and tiny backpacks in the same colour as their pants clipped to their rear pockets.

Wide-leg pants also came as low-slung dungarees, in black, blue or speckled grey wool, worn under a fitted jacket or ample black overcoat.