Dior Homme celebrates updated classics at Paris fashion

PARIS - Dior Homme designer Kris Van Assche on Saturday celebrated the updated classic at Paris fashion while Korea's Songzio jazzed up cool, summer looks with metallic print and big pockets.

On day four of men's fashion, Van Assche said he delved into Christian Dior's world for a collection in which the "bourgeois meets the artist".

"I wanted a sense of renewal and an idea of Christian Dior's artistic milieu to come through as well as his love of formality and tradition," he said.

The result was formal, navy suits with an emphasis on the tuxedo and traditional pinstripe.

Nautical touches, a reference to the Normandy-born Dior's love of the sea, came in the form of toggle fasteners and striped knit vests over shirts to create what Van Assche called "a new form of three piece suit".

The Belgian designer said he was also influenced by a letter dating from the 1950s he found in the Dior archives.

In the letter, Dior, who founded the Christian Dior fashion house in 1946, wrote about the importance of maintaining traditions.

"Traditions have to be maintained so they can be passed on to future generations," he wrote.

"In troubled times like ours we must maintain these traditions which are our luxury and the flower of our civilisation," he added.

Van Assche turned the handwritten letter into a print which he used throughout the collection.

Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld described the clothes as "very modern classic, updated classic".

"Classic -- if it is only classic -- becomes boring. You need to freshen it with modernity," he told reporters after the show.

US actor Ansel Elgort and Asian actor and boy band star Vic Chou were also among those on the front row at the show.

Elsewhere on Saturday, South Korean designer Songzio took the "configuration and shape of wood" as the inspiration for his latest collection.

The designer sent out oversized coats, boxy shirts, and wide, pleated shorts.

Standout looks included a knit tunic ensemble and sleeveless, transparent shirt with gold-coloured metallic print.

Big pockets popped up on the front of shirts and the back of shorts.

As well as his signature palette of dark navy and tones of black, there was also white and cream, vivid orange and midnight blue.

Songzio picked up the gold in black leather sandals while other footwear had big straps high over the ankle.

-- Five days of men's fashion for spring/summer 2015 wraps up on Sunday.

The men's collections will be followed from July 6-11 by six days haute couture collections for autumn/winter 2014/15.