PARIS, France — The style of early 20th century artists in southern France inspired Carven's menswear designer Guillaume Henry.

At his spring-summer 2014 show in Paris, turn-of-the-century floppy hats — to protect an artist's head from the sun — combined with fine sandals, for comfort — and wrinkled beige socks for a dash of humor.

They recreated how artists such as Nicolas de Stael would look when heading out with into nature to paint.

"I wanted to capture the style of artists, how they would dress when they would go into fields or outdoors to work," Henry said.

The artistic musing mostly worked, with Henry pulling off a stronger show than last season.

The set — an artist's atelier, with pottery on shelves and an empty easel — added to the mood.

The silhouettes were all nicely balanced — with slim, high-waisted pants and some great loose jackets.

Henry's imaginative journey through colors of nature in earth green, burnt orange and mustard yellow strongly evoked the hues of Mediterranean summer — with the warm palette of post-Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne.

Copyright (2013) Associated Press.