Thom Browne

It wasn't easy to steal the thunder from the European menswear designers this season: Raf Simons staged an exquisite 15th anniversary show that touched on themes from the last decade and a half of collections, Italian textile maker and clothing label Ermenegildo Zegna pulled out all the stops to mark its 100th year, and Dolce & Gabbana's runway show, celebrating its 20th year of menswear, included a surprise performance by Annie Lennox. But in the penultimate time slot on the final day of the Paris fashion calendar, nearly an hour late, American designer Thom Browne made his Paris Fashion Week runway debut, made a lasting impression and made it clear that he is poised to be as big as his suits are small.

PARIS ? When it came to theatrics, the Paris leg of the recent menswear shows was as full as the generously cut trousers that filled the runways. And, though the designers in Milan and Paris don't always mine the same trends, for fall/winter 2011 the collections in both cities were in lock step, focusing on outerwear (especially blanket coats and toggle-button closures), and, almost to the one, including a pop or two of vivid blaze orange. Among the highlights of the Paris shows: Thom Browne The stage ?

THE shrunken suit, with its ankle-baring trousers and fitted jackets, looked like just another wacky runway fantasy -- something that would disappear long before it ever hit the racks. But three seasons later, it's not only still with us, it's about to land in the venerable halls of Brooks Brothers, the haberdasher that has dressed presidents and given us the button-down collar.

It wasn't easy to steal the thunder from the European menswear designers this season: Raf Simons staged an exquisite 15th anniversary show that touched on themes from the last decade and a half of collections, Italian textile maker and clothing label Ermenegildo Zegna pulled out all the stops to mark its 100th year, and Dolce & Gabbana's runway show, celebrating its 20th year of menswear, included a surprise performance by Annie Lennox. But in the penultimate time slot on the final day of the Paris fashion calendar, nearly an hour late, American designer Thom Browne made his Paris Fashion Week runway debut, made a lasting impression and made it clear that he is poised to be as big as his suits are small.

PARIS ? When it came to theatrics, the Paris leg of the recent menswear shows was as full as the generously cut trousers that filled the runways. And, though the designers in Milan and Paris don't always mine the same trends, for fall/winter 2011 the collections in both cities were in lock step, focusing on outerwear (especially blanket coats and toggle-button closures), and, almost to the one, including a pop or two of vivid blaze orange. Among the highlights of the Paris shows: Thom Browne The stage ?

The overarching sense of optimism that characterized the first few days of the Spring/Summer 2010 shows at New York Fashion Week here was evident in the men's collections as well as the women's, both in colors -- vivid pops of blue and rain-slicker yellows playing off a variety of gray suiting materials like sunlight peeking from behind the clouds -- and cheery prints and even polka dots. At Duckie Brown, which over the last few seasons seemed to be dressing its men for battle, designers Steven Cox and Daniel Silver sent a stripped-down collection of lightweight shorts and gauzy shirts down the catwalk.

The spring/summer 2010 men's collections presented during New York Fashion Week didn't break much new ground compared with what was shown on the runways of Milan and Paris this summer, but designers did give the men's wardrobe of a year hence some tweaks as they, like their European counterparts, cut back on the spectacle and focused on showing a wider array of wearable pieces. Blue men group The biggest carry-over from Europe was the range of blue hues that covered the catwalk, from a pale peaceful shade evoking notions of the sky to vibrant cobalts and oil slick shades, with nearly every shade in between.

We all wore them -- the black loafers, white ankle socks, rhinestone brooches, cropped military jackets and fedoras. Michael Jackson's sartorial signatures filled our closets in the 1980s. And his passing marks the end of an era when a pop singer's individual style could leave an imprint on the critical mass of a generation. Just try to think of any singer since the days of Jackson, Madonna, David Bowie and Boy George whose looks were so distinctive that they could take over the street.

Sleeves that drag on the ground, rucksacks roomy enough to stow a pony keg and enough summer whites to keep a fistful of Tide pens busy through next Labor Day. If the menswear at New York Fashion Week had a common theme, it was that the little-boy look of past seasons is experiencing an ungainly growth spurt -- changing size, shape and dimension seemingly all at once. And while the familiar preppy influences still reign, spring/summer '08 is an important baby step in another direction.

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The spring/summer 2010 men's collections presented during New York Fashion Week didn't break much new ground compared with what was shown on the runways of Milan and Paris this summer, but designers did give the men's wardrobe of a year hence some tweaks as they, like their European counterparts, cut back on the spectacle and focused on showing a wider array of wearable pieces. Blue men group The biggest carry-over from Europe was the range of blue hues that covered the catwalk, from a pale peaceful shade evoking notions of the sky to vibrant cobalts and oil slick shades, with nearly every shade in between.

The overarching sense of optimism that characterized the first few days of the Spring/Summer 2010 shows at New York Fashion Week here was evident in the men's collections as well as the women's, both in colors -- vivid pops of blue and rain-slicker yellows playing off a variety of gray suiting materials like sunlight peeking from behind the clouds -- and cheery prints and even polka dots. At Duckie Brown, which over the last few seasons seemed to be dressing its men for battle, designers Steven Cox and Daniel Silver sent a stripped-down collection of lightweight shorts and gauzy shirts down the catwalk.

We all wore them -- the black loafers, white ankle socks, rhinestone brooches, cropped military jackets and fedoras. Michael Jackson's sartorial signatures filled our closets in the 1980s. And his passing marks the end of an era when a pop singer's individual style could leave an imprint on the critical mass of a generation. Just try to think of any singer since the days of Jackson, Madonna, David Bowie and Boy George whose looks were so distinctive that they could take over the street.

Sleeves that drag on the ground, rucksacks roomy enough to stow a pony keg and enough summer whites to keep a fistful of Tide pens busy through next Labor Day. If the menswear at New York Fashion Week had a common theme, it was that the little-boy look of past seasons is experiencing an ungainly growth spurt -- changing size, shape and dimension seemingly all at once. And while the familiar preppy influences still reign, spring/summer '08 is an important baby step in another direction.

THE shrunken suit, with its ankle-baring trousers and fitted jackets, looked like just another wacky runway fantasy -- something that would disappear long before it ever hit the racks. But three seasons later, it's not only still with us, it's about to land in the venerable halls of Brooks Brothers, the haberdasher that has dressed presidents and given us the button-down collar.

This week at latimes.com/image: Style Scout "Artsy" doesn't even begin to describe the crowd that turned out for the grand opening party Sept. 6 at the new Maison Martin Margiela store in Beverly Hills. Revelers looked more like time travelers from an '80s Basquiat exhibition in SoHo than Beverly Hills fashonistas. There was former New York club kid James St.

Like the women's collections, the menswear offerings for fall/winter 2010 were retro-nouveau, a plumbing (and updating) of the past to outfit the fellow of the not-too-distant future. Among the overarching trends to come out of the Bryant Park tents for the last time (next season, after 18 years, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York is relocating to Damrosch Park in Lincoln Center) were the following: Leather jackets Like the fall/winter 2010 collections shown on the runways of Milan and Paris in January, much of the menswear shown on the runways during New York Fashion Week focused on statement outerwear pieces.