Once an underrated French menswear talent, Sébastien Meunier finally has the limelight at Ann Demeulemeester — after working for several years at Margiela. Under Meunier’s short tenure, the brand’s male romanticism is less dark, and the show opened with an apparent attempt at redefining modern formal wear — tuxedos sporting contrasting colorful lapels.

But the collection’s real hits were the wonderful flower-printed pants and all the tactile items: fuzzy tan coats and knitwear, mohair shirts, and black suits in fabrics that seemed to have been scratched throughout their surfaces, producing a luxuriously disintegrating effect. That’s modern formal wear.