Designers go retro with a headscarf

It's time to raid Granny's wardrobe. The headscarf knotted under the chin is back on the Paris catwalk.

The good news this time is that men can wear versions of them, too.

Japanese designer Hiromichi Ochiai of Facetasm dared to resurrect the most humdrum of domestic of looks - one that admittedly still has its adherents, including Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and a dwindling band of pious matrons - for his autumn-winter menswear show.

As he says himself, in fashion "anything is possible".

The avant-garde creator sent four of his female models down the runway in floral "granny scarves" in his mixed-gender show, a growing trend in this season's collections.

"We are fashion libertarians associated with no specific roots, identities or classifications," he declares.

The floral patterns in the scarves were picked up in hoodies for the boys, which were worn rather menacingly with face masks.

While the look might pass in Asian cities where people are worried about pollution or germs, it came across as the sort of garb that might get you arrested in Paris or other European capitals living under the threat of terrorism.

That threat was ever-present in the Belgian designer Walter Van Beirendonck's show, with all of his models masked with colorful scarves that hid the face.

Some looked like rioters - the world's best-dressed rioters - others like hipster Tuaregs and still more had shades of balaclava-ed SWAT team special forces operatives about them.

The bearded designer, known for his ability to reflect society's shifting moods, drew huge smiles by matching them with hilariously oversized leather and woolen gloves.

His compatriot Glenn Martens of Y/Project had great fun with Napoleon, Josephine and Henry VIII football scarves, saying that they were all pop stars in their different ways, with the Tudor monarch the "Kanye West of his times".

Over at Balenciaga, a similar playful spirit was at work. The brand's wunderkind designer Demna Gvasalia is known for his talent for reclaiming corporate logos, making a reworked yellow DHL T-shirt a fashion must-have.

His trademark oversized look was also there with shin-length double-breasted coats that had more than a hint of vintage KGB about them, and charity-shop-chic suits matched with trainers.

While Gvasalia seemed to play fast and loose with convention, the brothers Glemarec of Icosae made their Paris fashion week debut with a paeon to traditional tailoring.