In keeping with the apocalyptic/dystopian theme that has characterized Paris Fashion Week this fall/winter season, maestro Thom Browne has decided to turn the runway into an (artificial) snow-smothered winter wonderland. While the first eight looks have immersed us in the Noah’s Ark narrative, the ensuing looks were presented in pairs — two models — one male, one female — wearing twinning looks from the collection. It was the first time the designer has shown his men’s and women’s collection on the same runway, and this new approach has created an impact that was twice as impactful as it has ever been.

As for the clothes themselves, they were all about playtime with black-and-white Harris tweed used as a canvas for Browne’s superb techniques of deconstruction, trompe l’œil, patchwork and proportion play. Elongated cardigan jackets, pleated skirts, halter tops and skirts reconstructed from deconstructed trousers were paired with jackets and shirts to create a sense of experimentation. Highlighting this fall/winter 2020 collection was outerwear, where intricate coats embedded with the designer’s sultry sense of humor — cutout of a male figure across the shoulder in one piece, embellished stuffed snake where one would normally expect a fox-fur stole in another. Models had trimmed handkerchiefs pulled over their eyes, and it was almost impossible to tell the men and women apart: an abandonment of long-held gender norms for a new genesis in the world of fashion and beyond.