Spring 2013 Menswear: Carven, Galliano, Demeulemeester, and McQueen.

Carven
I've seen this described as "botanical", which I love because when was the last time you saw womenswear being described as "botanical"? Guys, they're wearing florals. Deal with it.

All the models in this show were dressed like Victorian teacups and if you put them anywhere near a garden they'd either flee in terror or remain firmly on the footpaths until a servant had fetched some lawn furniture and a rug.

It'd take a very specific type of person to pull off outfits like these. The floral shorts-and-shirts combos are fine if you're fashion-forward, but several of the other outfits looked like something your grandmother would wear. The models got away with it, but only because the casting ran towards sallow youths rather than the muscle-bound gladiators we saw at Versace.

John Galliano
Galliano: now an entirely Galliano-free zone. Although this collection still retained the flamboyance we've come to expect from the brand, Galliano's own influences are beginning to thin out. Gone are the extravagant Dickensian villain outfits and oversized hats, and instead we get a solid theme: Surrealist art. First, Magritte's clouds...

... and later on, Dali's lobster, currently freed from its telephone perch.

Ann Demeulemeester
This collection definitely reminded me of Haider Ackermann's designs, although I wouldn't rate these as highly as his. The glowing jewel-tone fabrics are lovely, but a lot of the outfits ended up looking more like sleepwear than I think was originally intended.

Alexander McQueen
There was a strong link between this collection and the womenswear Resort line we saw a few weeks ago, particularly when it came to these metallic suits. On the whole, though, the menswear was a far less adventurous effort -- not that it matters because McQueen's couture lines are so consistently iconic and well-reviewed that the menswear could be the same boring suits year after year and no one would care. And these suits, at least, were far from boring.