Felipe Oliveira Baptista was made head designer at Lacoste, for his ergonomic tailoring and easy-to-wear elegance.

His own line, that he showed yesterday at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo, felt like a dark, high-end take on his sporty designs. A press release on each seat informed us that the theme of the collection was a “post-apocalyptic atmosphere short-circuited by vivid images of exotic amphibians.” Indeed, a military efficiency punctuated with touches of rain forest fluroescents soon filled up the runway.

If last season Dries Van Noten showed restraint with his signature prints, this season he went back to his roots, using them with abandon.

There were swirled zebra stripes, geometric diamonds, zig-zagged lines, Pucci-esque circles, brocades, jacquards, florals, and the list goes on. Prints came first in black and white and then in bright bold orangey reds and cobalt blues. Textures were mixed and matched too–fur lapels were attached to thick printed wool trenches, and sequined fringe shimmered in sqaures on dresses. If the collage of of prints, colors and textures seems dizzying-ly overwhelming, it didn’t look that way on the runway. While last season’s collection may have been more obviously restrained, there was restraint here, too–simple silhouettes like slouchy knee-length silk dresses, below-the-knee skirts paired with fur-collared jackets, and belted stiff wrapped jackets countered the excess of print, color and texture. A slowed-down moody version of David Bowie’s “Heroes,” played as if to say, Van Noten’s girls for fall had a bit of Ziggy Stardust in them, only a more restrained incarnation.