PARIS–Rick Owens and Kris Van Assche might seem like stylistic opposites, but both their shows forecast a gentle, ergonomic warrior coming from a not-so-distant future. Think bare calves, leather on wool and flowy hair. (Did I just hear Emmanuelle Alt?)

Rick Owens introduced neo-Goth to the fashion planet a few years ago–and since, the whole world caught on: walk on any high street and you’ll find a gazillion brands stocking leather, sheer and black, black, black. So when you are Rick Owens, where do you go next? The designer has chosen a mature, controlled path. His collection shown last night in Paris included kimono folds (a tad like Haider Ackerman’s last woman collection), grey hues, softer wools, slipper-like shoes: more inner peace, less outer chaos.

“I’m not in the same place I was five years ago. I feel that what I’ve shown today is very different from when I started, and will be too in another five years,” Rick Owens told us after the show. “A designer always evolves. There is a sense of continuation but also of constant movement–but at core you just have to stay true to yourself.”

PARIS–My favorite thing about the Viktor & Rolf show, which took place yesterday at 9:30am (anything starting before noon in Paris is rare), is that it started with a boy coming out in his jammies. Of course, it wasn’t a boy, it was a model, and they weren’t jammies, they were knitted, featureless trousers and a matching top, but it called to mind pajamas, or the phys-ed uniform at a Soviet school, or my friend’s fashion project, The Grey Sweatsuit Revolution. And I kind of loved it. (The distance between these trousers and your long-johns is narrow, but that doesn’t mean they’re not cool).

The Dutchmen have taken note of European woes—all is conservative and tight—but the economy is doing just fine, that you very much, so there are notes of playfulness, and celebration too.