Boys and girls together

The City of Light is having a Marlene Dietrich moment. When models at Viktor & Rolf appeared in fabulously inventive ensembles that were bias-cut silk gowns on one side and tailored trouser legs on the other, it was obvious that designers here were not going to skip blithely down the garden path behind their counterparts in New York and Milan.

The peaceful, easy feeling that swept the runways elsewhere made a showing in the form of romantic tiered floral print skirts at Chanel and delicately embroidered dresses at Dries Van Noten. But Paris has never really been a city of fashion followers, and the more interesting shows had an undercurrent of strong femininity that emphasized complicated shapes over fluttery drapes, with deconstructed menswear looks at Viktor & Rolf and Balenciaga, and athletic-minded, reworked blazers and layered tank tops at Helmut Lang.

Paris designers have clearly been inspired by the Marlene Dietrich fashion exhibition that’s been all the rage at the Galliera Museum. The show explores the actress’ multifaceted style in items from both her personal and film wardrobes, made by Hollywood costume designers and Paris couturiers. Dietrich was fond of dressing in tailored men’s suits, and her garcon look earned her lots of ink, especially in 1936, when she visited Paris and the French police threatened to arrest her. But she had a girly side too, exemplified by the “coat of cloud” made for her from the down of 200 swans by Paramount’s Jean Louis in 1956.

The Viktor & Rolf show was the most stunning display this week. Men’s white shirts were stretched into a half-dozen combinations, with dropped lapels and exaggerated collars, and paired with skinny tuxedo pants with wide satin stripes down the legs. The designers also played with trench coats in a rosy silk, fashioning them into sensuous dresses. But the gowns at the end stole the show. One was an explosion of silver-dotted black tulle on one side and a strictly business pant leg on the other, like the flip sides of a woman’s sartorial personality in a single garment.

Satins and chiffons

At Dior, John Galliano’s attempt at doing Dietrich paled in comparison. In an unusually subdued show, lingerie-inspired looks in black or peach satin dominated, with sexy pencil skirts laced down the back, peplum jackets with severe shoulders and molded bustiers, all accessorized with peep-toe spectator pumps and boxy handbags with pearl leashes that fastened around the neck. For evening, the designer seemed to pay homage to Jean-Paul Gaultier, with a clingy gold satin coatdress folded over at the waist, its sleeves tied around the back, and floral chiffon gowns with fringed hems that brought to mind chintzy lampshades layered over tattoo-print bodysuits.

Karl Lagerfeld’s shows for Chanel seem increasingly aimed at the Teen Vogue set, and this season was no exception. A varsity jacket emblazoned with the double “CC” logo, a sheer cropped blouse trailing ribbons like those that decorate the handlebars of girls’ bicycles, and Rubik’s Cube-shaped purses all seemed designed to reel ‘em in when they’re young, and hopefully make them into lifelong Chanel customers.

Not that there weren’t beautiful touches: trench coats edged in silvery tweed; skirts and dresses in a bumpy white knit that resembled your grandma’s chenille bedspread; salt ‘n’ pepper tweed jackets with white crocheted cuffs and lapels; and a long, tiered skirt in a watercolor floral that brought to mind Impressionist canvases. It was probably the closest Lagerfeld will ever get to doing boho chic.

Luckily, other designers are still stoking the flames of creativity, such as Helmut Lang. Perhaps he has recently taken up surfing, because the most intriguing pieces in his athletic-minded collection were upside-down jackets that resembled wetsuits peeled to the waist, with the sleeves left hanging. The street-smart look was finished off with cropped pants, miniskirts and layered, elongated tank tops that brought to mind those by L.A.-based label C&C; California.

Except Lang’s versions were more conceptual, with racer backs, asymmetrical straps and slashed holes accentuating different parts of the body, such as a hipbone or the curve of the breast. Longer versions of the tees and tanks were worn over extraordinary iridescent metallic silk dresses in shades of silver, magenta or green, which bubbled up through the holes, and were topped off by denim jackets coolly embellished with bottle caps.

At Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquiere kept things short and sweet. In just 26 looks, he managed to cover a lot of ground, starting with strong, feminine suiting in sumptuous khaki stretch silk. Tighter-than-tight skirts with raised seams emphasizing every inch of the anatomy were paired with jackets that had high, stiff collars and shoulders that approached linebacker proportions. Some also had double rows of buttons running down the front, bandleader style.

Then, just when you thought you knew the drill, he hit an even lighter note, with babydoll jumpers in bright baby florals, some with undulating hems weighted down by zippers, all worn over bikini tops. Soft, slouchy men’s shirts were crafted into the kind of sculptural, sleeveless dresses Cristobal himself was famous for in the 1950s -- only Ghesquiere’s had soft spread collars and dropped lapels, and were buttoned to one side.

Experiments at Rochas

Another designer with a reputation for shape-shifting is Olivier Theyskens. In his first collection for Rochas in March, he made a splash with humpbacked coats and beehive-like skirts. This season he continued to experiment, creating exquisite silver satin cocktail dresses with black lace overlays and necklines scooped so low in the front that a lacy bra or bustier was an essential component of the outfit. As at Dior, it was lingerie as outerwear, except this was new.

Elegant laminated black lace trench coats and black tulle-trimmed capelets were so enchanting, they left one longing to dress up. Theyskens also had a bit of a show pony theme going, with dinner suits trimmed in grosgrain points or lace portholes cut vaguely in the shape of horse show ribbons. The theme entered the realm of the ridiculous only once, with a dress sporting a wreath of black roses that looked better suited to a Derby champion. Still, you have to appreciate the brashness of a young talent who’s willing to gallop toward the cliff and leap off.

Dries Van Noten clearly looks forward to each show as the chance to spin a new fairy tale. At the charming, fresco-filled Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, fog rolled through the glitter-sprinkled aisles, creating a heavenly scene for draped white tunic dresses; cardigans edged in silver Lurex ruffles; soft-shouldered, textured khaki jackets; subtly embroidered shapeless silk gowns; and intriguing silver sneaker mules. With red-rimmed eyes and poufy, slept-on hair, Van Noten’s dreamy angels couldn’t have been more different from Viktor & Rolf’s Marlene-like sirens. No matter; there’s room in this fashion story for all kinds.