In typical Ludovic de Saint Sernin style, the theme of his menswear SS24 collection was lust. It was “a celebration of queer desire,” the show notes claimed. “An antidote to prudish moralism.” In other words, Ludovic did Ludovic. The French designer has shot to fame in recent years because of his openly provocative and gleefully queer approach to fashion, his shows knowingly parading guys in tight pants, eyelet briefs and rhinestone vests and, generally, showing off as much skin as taste allows.

This runway boasted just one ‘brief’ moment. The briefs, rendered in lambskin, featured the lace-up design that was everywhere in this collection. Replacing zipped flies on trousers and adorning corsets, the lace-up felt like the direct reference to kink that de Saint Sernin’s collections often feel dabble with. It’s something he revels in, whilst also heightening the apparel of the subculture to couture.

The palette overall was muted. Blacks and whites darted between earth tones. Shirts were unbuttoned but strung together at the top while shorts had that same cut and appearance as boxer shorts. Trousers were emblazoned with the LdSS logo and crossbody bags, crafted in glimmering crystal mesh, provided by Swarovski, naturally. It was also notable that, even though this was a menswear collection, essentially half of the runway was taken up by womenswear. Sheer dresses that were barely there and shimmering, open-fronted dresses that dazzled in the sunlight. Having recently left his role at Ann Demeuleester after a single collection, here was Ludovic reaffirming the codes that charged his star power, watched on by a designer front row that included Rick Owens, Daniel Roseberry, Arnaud Vaillant, Sebastien Meyer, Maximilian Davis, Eli Russell Linnetz and Olivier Rousteing – quite the turn-out.