With an early start on day two of the menswear schedule, Viktor Horsting & Rolf Snoeren opted for an intimate showing in a gilded salon at the Monnaie de Paris, along the rive gauche. The dutch designers were clearly in an optimistic mood for Spring Summer 2012, with their gaze resting on the hankering heydays of 1970s beach culture.

Terry towelling appeared as a natty bowtie and continued into ochre striped shorts, while denim appeared in bleached strips, stitched in a pale gradient as a trouser and jeans jacket. Black goggle sunglasses added an awkward weight to the pale palette of sky, surf and sand tones. Evening wear was explored with mismatched tuxedo jacket in lustrous silk fabrics, accented at times with paillettes across a wide lapel. A frolicking dolphin motif was the highlight of the collection, which appeared tessellated upon a rust-coloured short sleeve shirt and raised in pearly embroidery on another.