Men's fashion heading towards a three-way split

HE IS tanned to perfection, his stubble has been grown to a crispy 0.5cm and he is wearing a vanilla ice-cream suit, effortlessly, writes Alison Veness.

This is textbook Cerruti man, a picture of excellent conformity, accessible to all. At the Paris spring-summer '95 menswear show, he is just one of a tribe of which there are three distinct camps emerging.

Jean Paul Gaultier put on a show that was one part Kid Creole and the Coconuts and two parts Julian Clary. Styled to the nines with boas, fox furs, gold bracelets, kingsize shoulder pads and diamante flotsam chiffon, it was the art of dressing decadently, writ large and loud.

Buried beneath the tinselly make-up, Cuban moustaches and quiffs were pinstripe suits, the heartbeat of the collection.

Paul Smith, showing in the manicured gardens of the British Embassy, offered Tidy fitted V- neck sweaters (no shirt, no tie) worn over school uniform trousers and shiny Tom Jones shirts put with jeans.

(Photographs omitted)