The very first show on the Paris Men’s calendar this season was Y. Project by Yohan Serfaty–an odd name, but an interesting collection. Serfaty cuts leather or cloth with mathematical precision, making pieces that look both razor-sharp, yet molded to the body–and textured to invite you to touch.

The venue was the Maison des Métallos (once a steelworker’s union, now a cultural center), and the staging was stark: a bare room, rows of benches and three semi-sheer cabines where the models changed clothes. Wriggling in and out of their runway looks, the young men cast shadows that seemed to dance, giving the show an overall impression of fashion-as-performance art.

Standouts were the beautiful shearling coats, heavy lace-up shoes and work boots, chunky knitwear (including giant ribbed collars like the one shown, above) and the slightly-futuristic leather jackets. Definitely not for the timid.

––Mark Grischke

The designer, Yohan Serfaty, giving interviews after the show

Photographs by Stéphane Israël