Mr. Mickey Takes on Paris Fashion Week: Viktor & Rolf and Jeremy Scott

The only thing Mr. Mickey likes more than a classic out-there Viktor & Rolf show is V&R show where they throw the kids for a loop by showing how beautifully they can do classic chic clothing with just a teensy splash of eccentricity. The latter is what happened on Tuesday. The runway was the wildest thing about the show -- the models emerged from a giant blow-up of a woman's mouth with a V&R logo on her uvula.

The music, all hypnotic mixes of The Carpenters’ “Close to You,” contributed to the feeling of gorgeous lethargy, an almost Stepford feeling of chic. The beauty look was a very fresh update on ‘70s Valentino, which seems to be going around these days. The clothes were super chic, often with a playful but restrained Harlequin theme; beautiful dresses in white with black diamond-shaped details and restrained ruffles. The wide, wide, wide pants felt so refreshing and the ruffled dresses felt so classic and yet mildly subversive. Many of the clothes had whimsical pom-pom details that were shockingly small considering this was Viktor & Rolf, designers who've built their reputation on blowing things up to almost cartoon proportions. The collection featured the new line of handbags that are being produced by Gibo, further establishing V&R as a full-service global luxury brand the pair hopes to become. The final look was a nod to the V&R we've all come to expect with a larger-than-life pink confection of an ensemble that carried all the classic V&R touches.

Jeremy Scott is the classic American in Paris; there is something that just feels right about him showing here. His Tuesday night show at the Elysee Montmartre was vintage Scott. The set was a construction site and the otherwise flawlessly turned out models were smeared with the grime of the city. There were very Lady-like dresses accessorized with garbage-can lid hats and wrench earrings. There were the designer's signature patterns including tape measures and New York street signs on a base of taxi cab yellow. The models, a parade of big names from Coco to Irina to Chanel to Iekeline, worked the runway, serving it up for the packed crowd of hipsters like The Misshapes, Benjamin Cho, Gareth Pugh, Cory Kennedy and Kanye West (who seems to be everywhere this week with his fashion designer fiancée in tow.)

We love how Scott mixes the chic with the subversive and really mines the rich history of fashion imagery. With a fashion world that seems ever more blanded down for business purposes, it's great to have a maverick doing his own thing and bringing an undeniably American flavor to the good taste of Paris Fashion Week.

Scene from the Jeremy Scott runway

Benjamin Cho at the Jeremy Scott show

Jeremy Scott photos by Mickey Boardman; Viktor & Rolf photo from Style.com