Dries Van Noten: There In His Cars (Fashion Wire Daily)

Paris - Making clothes that manage to look rather proper yet also seriously hip is a delicate balancing act, but one managed with aplomb and panache by Dries Van Noten on Thursday in Paris, the opening day of the spring 2009 mens shows.

Van Noten, the subtlest of designer, took us on a charming jaunt with this collection, a stylish journey for independent travelers, where the big message was "dapper not dandy."

The show was more literally a journey, as the models took a long jaunt up a delightful catwalk, a cobbled 15th arrondissement parking lot artfully enhanced by several scores of all-white autos, ranging from Bentley, Mustang and Thunderbirds convertibles to a Fiat 850 and beautifully over designed Citroen DS.

Van Noten opened the action quietly with a pair of navy blue suits before gradually injecting color and edge. His big idea was using geometrical patterns and prints in everything from spy trench coats, party shirts and proud poseurs suits.

"The prints were based on some Italian Thirties ties we found. We made them in polyester not the original silk, and they do have great atmosphere," Dries told FWD backstage.

The Belgium designer also dreamt up a great new pant; wide waistline trousers with oversized belt loops and cuffs two inches above the ankle. Plus, the show also had that other key Dries element, the unexpected, like the linen shirts with cashmere breastplate, the largely transparent spy raincoat and flat wingtips with leather belts.

Backed up a brilliant remix of the Gary Neuman classic "Cars," and fueled by correctly prepared glasses of Pyms, served by waiters out of the trunks of the smaller cars, the show was a huge success, a paragon of subtlety and savvy that other designers would do well to learn from.