Label officials said Gaytten had officially taken the mantle of creative director for the brand as he set foot on the runway Friday.
“Things change, things move on, that’s life,’’ Gaytten summed it up after the show, which capped day three of a Paris menswear week overshadowed by the ongoing Galliano saga.
The designer’s trial Wednesday on anti-Semitism and racism charges coincided with the first day of the shows here. The tale that emerged from the court proceedings of a creative genius pushed to the brink by the ever-rising pressures of the fashion industry was worthy of Balzac, and the story of his alcohol-soaked, pill-popping fall from grace had many of the fashion insiders packed into the Paris courtroom on the brink of tears.
Still, there was more to Friday’s displays than just Galliano.
Military drab bloomed with tropical flowers and sweatshirts scintilated with sequins at Givenchy, with a ravishing collection that was equal parts couture and gangsta.
Stefano Pilati, the master tailor from Yves Saint Laurent, delivered a mouthwatering selection of jackets for every mood and occasion (though, sadly, not for every budget.) Madcap Belgian Walter Van Beirendonck angled for an altogether bolder demographic with ball-shaped, tulle-covered forms that swallowed the models up to their knees, turning them into walking topiary.
Another Belgian, Kris Van Assche delivered a sober collection in a nearly monochrome palette of charcoal greys. For his signature line, Van Assche, who also designs menswear for Dior Homme, looked to the mod movement, sending out high-water, drop-crotched trousers with Harrington jackets.
