Kris Van Assche’s collection today was entitled Cognac Sport, a reference to the two familiar contrasts at play here: classic vs. sport. This is not new territory for the designer, in fact it has been there since his first collection. But he always finds new and interesting ways to explore it, and his obsession with fusing the two is infectious.

He said backstage he approached the classics in terms of the color cognac along with bespoke shoe fabrications and tie fabrications. The shoes gave us crocodile and brogue detailing, and the ties gave us polka dots. Knitwear reproduced crocodile patterns in complex technical jacquards, and prints across backpacks and shirt placards were decorated with it, while the polka dots were exploded and laser-cut into knits or printed across suiting. The sports parka and its horizontal zip and patch pocket detailing was merged with blazers, shirts and trench coating, giving us an entirely new take on the zipped blazer that looked incredibly fresh.

Our favorite color on the runway was a beautiful bottle green that Van Assche said came from his first collection, “where all of the shoes were white Stan Smiths with a green logo.” Other high brights were also borrowed from the sportswear universe and applied to tailoring, with fuchsias and oranges finding their way into classics in an unusually colorful and inspired way.

Another obsession of his is music, and as always his soundtrack was incredible, with a new Soulwax remix of the Pulp track After You that we’ve still got on repeat.