Soaked in old school Parisian decadence, Dior Homme's fall-winter 2011-2012 menswear offerings looked tailor-made for aimless, world weary nobles circa about 1975.
Filled with ample pants and swingy cardigans, this was a collection for those who don't have an office to report to, those whose only dress code is easy chic and no-fuss elegance.
Sweater trenches and poncho coats in chocolate and gray cashmere were the perfect antidote to a long night of carousing: Shorn of their fussy buttons, with casual tie closures, they exuded devil-may-care glamour, requiring little effort and no thought.
The models entered the set — decorated like a tony Paris town house, complete with working fireplaces and glinting chandeliers — though towering double doors and ambled around a parquet catwalk.
"There was lots of cashmere, a lot of knitwear, to be really comfortable and elegant at the same time," the label's menswear designer, Kris Van Assche, told The Associated Press in a post-show interview.
Mayhem broke out backstage when hip hop mogul Sean Combs, aka Puff Daddy, and Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld — who swears by Dior suits — and their considerable entourages swept in to congratulate Van Assche. Photographers, cameramen and fashionistas armed with cell phone cameras swarmed.
And did the collection's decadent ease strike a chord with the VIPs?
"I liked the capes," Combs pronounced.