New faces at the Paris fashion week

The house that John Galliano built is now that of Bill Gaytten. Never heard of him? Neither had most of the fashion editors, journalists, stylists and buyers at Friday's spring-summer 2012 menswear display at John Galliano, the label that bears the name of the disgraced designer who was sacked from Christian Dior and his own signature label earlier this year. The house of Galliano had not announced a replacement for the wildly inventive British designer, and so when Gaytten — a fellow Briton who was long a close Galliano collaborator — shyly took to the catwalk for a post-show bow, members of the audience shot one another puzzled glances and shrugged their shoulders in bewilderment. "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. Still, there was more to Friday's displays than just Galliano. Military drab bloomed with tropical flowers and sweatshirts scintillated with sequins at Givenchy, with a ravishing collection that was equal parts couture and gangsta. Article continues below Stefano Pilati, the master tailor from Yves Saint Laurent, delivered a mouth-watering selection of jackets for every mood and occasion. 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 looked to the mod movement, sending out high-water, drop-crotched trousers with Harrington jackets. At crosstown rival Balmain, Olivier Rousteing made his debut since replacing Christophe Decarnin as the label's supervising designer. Rousteing remained true to Decarnin's vision of the Balmain man as a luxury rocker. Hardcore biker jackets and trousers remained core pieces, though Rousteing pumped up the colour, dousing the pieces in a fluorescent rainbow. Knockout pieces included a sleek tuxedo jacket entirely in black crocodile. Yves Saint Laurent Just how many variations are there on the jacket? Pilati served up dozens of fetching, fashion-forward iterations on the menswear staple. Pilati has garnered a mixed critical response in seasons past, but this tour de force collection proved that the Italian designer is among the most impeccable tailors in the business. The selection of jackets was nothing short of mouth-watering: Single-button, two-button, double-breasted, cropped, safari or tuxedo, they sprouted pocket flaps, razor-sharp pleats, hidden panelling and even sexy lacing. It was a testament to Pilati's skills that despite the embellishment, the jackets exuded an easy, classic elegance. Walter Van Beirendonck If you can imagine a barbershop quartet on psychedelic drugs, you have a pretty good idea of what the Belgian designer's collection was all about this season. Clean-cut models, their hair styled in oversized bouffants secured with combs, wore slim, '50s-style pant suits in pastel brocards and over-the-elbow gloves in leather patchworked to resemble cartoon faces. Cable-knit sweaters were shredded down the front into thin strips and paired with checkered, high-water trousers. But the highlight was the oversized forms made out of tufts of fluorescent tulle that fit over the models' heads and enveloped them to mid-thigh, transforming them into walking topiary. Givenchy Equal parts gangbanger and flowery, sequin-covered grande dame, the new Givenchy man was as strangely ravishing as the tropical bird of paradise flowers that dressed up his military drab. Beefy models sported slim, olive-coloured suits printed with the eyepopping flowers and luxe sweatshirts completely covered in sequins. Baseball jackets were paired with pleated skirts that fluttered as the models walked, revealing glimpses of hidden panels of the flower printed silk in saturated jewel tones. Galliano "It was a funny moment for me." That's how Gaytten described taking to the catwalk for the bow that thrust him from the shadows into the limelight. The show had all the telltale marks of a classic Galliano display, from the way the seating was arranged down to the language of the collection notes, to the way the models clomped angrily down the runway. Swinging '60s London was the theme of the collection, with models sporting military jackets with drop-crotched silk pants and leather caps. Though the clothes and the styling evoked Galliano, they felt like a meek and timid version of the designer — pared down and de-clawed.