Old Sports

From left: Looks from the Louis Vuitton, Junya Watanabe and Yojhi Yamamoto collections in Paris. (Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times)

A sense of utility pervades the Paris fall men’s collections. At Louis Vuitton, models toted LV cases on standard-looking luggage carriers, their suits liquid and soft for movement and in shapes of ink, petrol and brown. This morning, Junya Watanabe’s patchwork jackets and jeans evoked hunting gear. I’m always a sucker for the clothing at Farmer’s Supply, wondering what I could do with a snap-front brown cotton jacket or an orange utility vest. Now I know. Watanabe has deconstructed the outdoor elements in a charming way: with reversible pinstriped suit jackets patched in red checks and corduroy, jeans and cropped khakis with patches, and coats with the illusion of a second vested layer. Dries Van Noten’s collection, held last night at the Communist party headquarters, was a bit too frugal even for these times: too many one-color outfits and belted coats with an automaton cast. Yojhi’s men looked sweetly frumpy — and drowsy — in pajamas and hooded bathrobe coats.