Paul Joe s Sophie Albou was inspired by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte for Fall. Thinking of his painting Le Fils de l Homme, she built a cloud-covered set and brought in the bowler hats. Blue-sky thinking is a fact of life at Paul Joe, so maybe the influence made sense, or maybe surrealism is a cute way to explain novelty-print shirts like the one she created with rows of mounted stag heads. They, and a handful of Magritte takeoff T-shirts, were the clearest markers of the surreal. The rest of the collection looked more to Magritte s own times, especially the thirties and forties, for silhouettes like the pleated, wider-leg pants that Albou showed as part of houndstooth and Prince of Wales suits. The most excitement was saved for a variety of very fine Made in France coats, now a larger part of the line than ever before. They, too, had a larger-bodied retro feel, though the faux-fur collar (Albou turns up her nose at the real stuff) was closer to today. They were ably modeled by her son and sometime coworker, Adrien. Le Fils de l Homme, meet le fils de la femme.
