Late Thursday night we enjoyed rendez-vous with our favorite Italian import, Riccardo Tisci; our favorite supermodel, Lea T; and our favorite New York artist, Gloria Maximo. After a curbside lesson in tucking for a couture fitting from the illustrious Givenchy campaign star Rich and I decided we better visit the showroom for some pre couture excitement and a closer look at the menswear collection . Rich enjoyed some white power as he smoked American Marlboro lights and chose some favorite pieces while Colette Guillonneau, laughing at the supremacy sarcasm, pronounced the key pieces “Very Sang Bleu”. We’ll happily exchange “cattails” with the covertly sexy Colette any day.

Riccardo offered the attendees a grandiose show like only him knows how. Mysterious music between gregorian chants and victorian chamber music remixed by Philip Glass. His unusually heteroclit collection’s highlights were the use of a leopard pattern mixed with formal outfits, a skirt/short hybrid and a couple of masks between the ones of south american wrestlers and classic army gas asks. We were also pleased to see Lea T and Mariacarla walk, in the middle of all the muscular models.

words & images ©Maxime Büchi

My first DvN show. Obviously, I have a soft spot for the Skinhead reference, but more than that, this was the most convincing use of this peculiar style by a fashion designer! Also, congratulations for the most relevant use of tattooed boys I’ve seen so far. Dries, I love you. (Show took place on the 1st day, so same excuse as for Rick Owens, for the blurry pics… sorry).

words & images ©Maxime Büchi

On the day after the show, I took a little trip with JayJay and his husband Rich to the YSL showroom where we met up with the benevolent Guilhem, browsed through the beautiful collection and drank mimosa.

words & images ©Maxime Büchi

One thing I like about post-Slimane menswear is its firm step into the realm of “urban” (read: “hip hop”, but if I wrote “Hip Hop”, you’d hear 15 designers in denial go “Not at all, this is actually totally rockn roll!”) silhouette. Kris van Assches’s S/S 2010 collection was most certainly my favourite of all his collections so far. Rehearsing his traditional vocabulary, he nonetheless showed here a unprecedented variety in the shapes and ease in their harmonization. A real maturity that made his eponymous company look nothing less credible than a certain big house van Assche also directs. OK, it is a bit tiré par les cheveux to call this urban, but something’s there…

words & images ©Maxime Büchi

Not only did Thom Browne fulfill my wildest desires for delirious theatrics, but he also presented an amazingly chic and creative collection. The décor reminded of both a Thomas Demand photograph and a Matthew Barney movie. A highlight.

words & images ©Maxime Büchi

Fluro industrial workwear chaos at the Bernhard Willhelm presentation during Tranoi on Saturday. Foam roadworks followed by rainbow smoke flares, and a hyper-real mix of athletic club gear and ethnic-inspired sportswear. Can’t think of another designer that could pull this off. The fanboys were loving it. Photo by Volker Ketteniss.