Paris Fashion Week: Roland Mouret Mr. leads with the shoulder

Roland Mouret's menswear collection (called Roland Mouret Mr.) made its Paris runway debut during fashion week, and it was as strong as the shoulder that was the focus of his safari-flavored journey.

In the show notes accompanying the runway presentation, Mouret explained his emphasis on the shoulder: "Everything for me comes from the shoulders," he wrote, "as opposed to women's wear, which for me, comes from the waist."

The result was an upscale traveler's wardrobe full of belted twill safari jackets, canvas parkas and bombers all in adventurer-appropriate muted khakis, browns and the occasional bright yellow, balanced by trousers with generously cut legs that nipped in so severely at the waist, some of the deep pleats curved like parentheses. 

It was the simple, unfussy things that were the best parts of Mouret's inaugural men's runway outing -- which is to say just about everything. Some of the standouts were a linen mélange double-breasted jacket, a mint green cashmere cardigan paired with a V-neck cashmere top, and the pair of electric blue basket weave trousers that closed the show.

It was as elegant and balanced a collection as there was to be found on the European men's runways for the spring and summer 2012 season, and my guess is we'll see a lot more from Mr. in the future. 

--  Adam Tschorn, reporting from Paris

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Photos: Looks from the Roland Mouret Mr. spring / summer 2012 runway collection shown during Paris Fashion Week. Credit: Roland Mouret Mr.

Spanx made sexy? Roland Mouret tries

The designer, who skyrocketed to fame in 2005 after designing the Galaxy dress, heralded as the ultimate figure fixer, famously dissed the ubiquitous 'suck-it-in' undergarments. Being French, he called them "Spank," and deemed them unsexy because they leave women no choice but to go to the bathroom to get undressed.

"Men love curves. And if a man could help to take off a Spank, it would become even more famous," he told the London Guardian newspaper earlier this year. "But women don't want to be seen unpeeling out of a Spank. My dresses are for undressing. We all dress up to undress."

Fast forward to now: Mouret is debuting his own line of "power mesh" slips for $475 at net-a-porter.com. And for romance's sake, they don't peel off, but rather unzip at the side.

All the ladies at the Chateau Marmont were abuzz about them Thursday night. "They are Spanx times 100," said stylist Karla Welch, who looked fetching in a white vintage Victor Costa cocktail gown with short sable sleeves.

It's a smart move for Mouret. Shapewear is an unsaturated segment of the apparel market, and there's nothing women love more than shaving off the pounds without the work.

On Thursday night, the designer held court with a constellation of stylists, stars and models, many of them wearing his va-va-voom dresses. The occasion? Ostensibly to celebrate the new, exclusive Rainbow Collection of mini-dresses for Net-a-porter.com. But we all know it's also time to play awards show dress-up, which is why so many designers have been visiting L.A. over the last few weeks, including Zac Posen, Giles Deacon, Louis Vuitton jeweler Lorenz Baumer and Mulberry's Emma Hill.

At dinner, Mouret sat next to Demi Moore -- drinking a beer, God bless her, and looking fab doing it in the black Medusa dress. Devon Aoki wore the tangerine-colored Osu mini-dress, paired with a leather jacket. Heidi Klum, Amber Valletta, Lily Cole, Olivia Wilde, Rachel Zoe and Amanda de Cadenet were also at the soiree, dressed in RM finery.

Despite the downer economy, Mouret was in a good mood. Lucky for him, his company is backed by entertainment mogul Simon Fuller. The svengali behind the Spice Girls and the Beckham phenomenon, and the creator of "American Idol," Fuller's newest project is the recently launched Fashionair.com, which brings fashion and entertainment together in a meaningful way for the first time on the Web.

"We have the same belief that fashion will become entertainment," Mouret said, adding that his most recent runway show for spring 2010 was filmed using 28 cameras to allow viewers watching at home on their computers to see the finer points of his designs. "It's a starting point," he said. "In the future, technology is going to be the service of fashion. That's where Simon comes in. He's going to be one of the big players."  

-- Booth Moore

Upper photo: Designer Roland Mouret, left, and Demi Moore at the Rainbow Collection launch for Net-a-Porter held at Chateau Marmont. Credit: Charley Gallay / Getty Images

Lower photo: Model Heidi Klum. Credit: Charley Gallay / Getty Images