Men treated as dogs and pigs in Paris catwalk shows

PARIS: Paris men´s fashion week began in earnest Wednesday with two collections showing what dogs and pigs men can be, as the industry reels from a new sexual harassment scandal.

French designer Julien David sent out his models wearing dog´s heads, from a macho, man-spreading Doberman to an intellectual whippet and a splayed poodle in dungarees.

"I wanted to study the human species with a bit of distance. It´s a bit of a human laboratory," he told AFP of his show.

Yet as David put the final touches to his study of male types -- including a very predatory-looking German Shepherd with his tongue hanging out -- little did he know that the fashion world would be hit by new allegations this weekend that two star photographers had harassed a string of models.

Later a no-holds barred show by Flemish master Walter van Beirendonck presented men as pigs.

He led out his quirky collection with a litter of pig men in an allusion to France´s answer to the #MeToo campaign, #BalancetonPorc (Squeal on your pig).

With little piggy ears sticking out of their hoods, and strategically-placed holes over erogenous zones, the outfits took a dark and world-weary take on the male condition.

"One-eyed monster... Dream daddy... pig," read one of his skin-coloured, skin-tight tops worn with leather breeches and braces.

But David said his canine imagery was more about concentrating on the clothes, and said his dogs´ heads were about shifting the emphasis away from the models and onto his eclectic style.

Thigh-high Ugg boots 

"When you look at the dog you don´t pay attention to his character, and I wanted to have the same feeling here. If that guy on the top was a real person you would assume a lot of things about him," he said.

Real-life men rarely wear overly styled outfits, David said, but "bits of everything -- things he has from the past, things he just got, sporty things" that are comfortable.

So we shall see how many will be wearing thigh-high Ugg boots next winter. Lots if Y/Project designer Glenn Martens has his way.

Like Baywatch star Pamela Anderson until she realised the boots were made from sheep, the Belgian is a big fan of the Australian sheepskin boots.

"They are so comfortable it is like putting your feet into warm butter," he told AFP.

"So I thought why not put the whole leg in there."

"I´m very sorry for the animals, but we are very comfortable," said the hip creator, who used fake leather in the rest of his over-sized collection which turned on two-in-one jackets and coats.

"You have two coats and two jackets in one. It´s like merging two bodies together, a bit like love-making," he said of their construction.

Like Y/Project and a growing number of men´s collections, Japanese label Facetasm went for a co-ed show with male and female models, some of whom even smiled.

It was dominated by a joyous oversized thrift shop look of crumpled denim, baseball jackets, Medusa hairdos and lots of layering.

Virgil Abloh´s Off-White label picked up on the "pulled shirt" look pioneered by Vetements in its markedly less casual show which went heavy on black, red and mothball-blue.