Frank Sinatra crooning My Way was a soundtrack foil from Christophe Decarnin at Balmain. It wasn’t long before Sid Vicious sang My Way, his way, pushing Frank into a corner for a punk-revival collection that left the audience a bit stunned. You see, at heart, Decarnin is really a jeans and T-shirt kind of guy, and all that gold he sent out on the runway for fall really isn’t him.

For spring, nearly every look included a leather biker jacket with a tapestry of studs. Breathtaking works of art, these jackets will be worth their weight in gold, but for Decarnin they are a battle cry for relaxed luxe. Tailored jackets had stud lapels, leather minis were covered with studs and even black leather jeans got the stud treatment, too. When it wasn’t studs, it was safety pins. These punk trademarks were worn with artfully holey T-shirts, a pricey Balmain specialty, as well as short-short jeans or that punk classic, the plaid drainpipe.

The American flag turned up as faded prints on the back of denim jackets and the front of nude chiffon tees. That was as feminine as it got, unless you count a black leather bustier savagely stitched in all directions, as though it had been torn apart and put back together, piece by piece.