PARIS, France — "No references," declared Christophe Lemaire after his show on Wednesday morning. "Too reductive." But he couldn't help himself. Out they came: 17th century, Middle Ages, gaucho. Ultimately, that matters nicht next to the clothes on the catwalk. Except that, sitting in the audience, you couldn't help but spot the changes in Lemaire's aesthetic. He's been doing some volumising. And all those reference points he touched on came into play. The layered trapeze flair of the collection, away from the body, was something new for Lemaire. When that flair turned poncho, the wide cropped pants underneath said gaucho.

As reluctant as he might be to pin down influences, there were enough signs in Lemaire's collection to indicate that a melancholy romance is still his raison d'etre. The forlorn models with their long flowing hair and the lines of insecure poetry that were embroidered on a couple of pieces, each reinforced the notion of a woman needing to find strength in herself. Lemaire's fabrics offered support: gutsy denims, twills and poplins. But there is always a painful vulnerability, explicitly expressed here in a marbled print, like something you'd find in an artisan-bound book. It looked like a bleeding heart.