Mood Board: Paris Is Burning

"Paris is always a good idea," Audrey Hepburn said -- and she was right. This fall, understated Parisian elegance reigns. It shows up in Dior's mix of utilitarian denim and pin-striped suits, which call to mind the nonchalant style of singer-provocateur Serge Gainsbourg. It's also there in Bottega Veneta's flowy, chartreuse green cashmere overcoats, which evoke bohemian poets and their beloved glasses of absinthe. Epitomized in 1960 by Breathless star Jean-Paul Belmondo, the brooding Parisian man remains an enigma. Sitting at the terrasse of a cafe, with stubble and a cigarette in his lips, his hair perfectly undone, he is the inspirational fixture for menswear designers, who, season after season, try to crack the secret of his sex appeal.

Photography by Koji Yano