Milan and Paris Fashion week S/S 2012 invitations: Menswear

Riding on the wave of fashion week, this Bottega Veneta’s invitation was sent out to mark the unveiling of the brand’s first fragrance created by Tomas Maier. Of course, Bottega Veneta’s invitations always come in this iconic shade, but the standout this year was an embossed paper version of the house’s signature ’intrecciato’ leather-weaving technique

Bottega Veneta

Embossed plywood over at Alexander McQueen

Sailing its way to us was Etro’s paper boat - an indication of its Mediterranean-inspired collection

Striding away from its old image as a conventional heritage brand, Pringle of Scotland marked the arrival of its new design director Alistair Carr with a deceptively old-fashioned photograph that had a nifty ’peel and reveal’ strip, unveiling a lightning streak of bright fashion-forward print that appears in the new collection

Pringle of Scotland

Pringle of Scotland

The usual quality we’ve come to expect from Prada’s invitations - this invitation and accompanying seat marker both featured unapologetically bold screen-printed lettering over wood-textured painted card

Prada

Emporio Armani’s futuristic show invitation came with laser-cut detailing, but was also more importantly embedded with a microchip - allowing us one painless swipe of the invite over the iPad to gain entry to the show

Emporio Armani

Emporio Armani

A kaleidoscopic of some of our favourite invitations from the Paris S/S 2012 menswear collections

A farmland scene acts as a promise of things to come for the Junya Watanabe show, which took place in the greenness of the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds

We’re all for preparation - in the case of Dior Homme, there is much to be said for this floorplan detailing the show’s seating map

Dior Homme

Tissue paper chic from Comme des Garçons

Comme des Garçons

The ultimate classic modernist invitation from Margaret Howell, complete with ’Yves Klein blue’ colour-blocking

Margaret Howell

Margaret Howell

We found these wooden fans on our seats at the Lanvin show - technically not an ’invitation’, but definitely an indispensable item for one of the hottest fashion weeks in history

Staying cool again with this graphic Jonathan Adler for Lacoste fan

Jonathan Adler for Lacoste

A glossy, oversized and monochromatic affair at Raf Simons (bar an eye-popping fluorescent orange spray-painted ’cross’ motif)

Raf Simons

With an emphasis on exploration and travel this season, Louis Vuitton’s invitation was a booklet of fold-it-yourself airmail letter sheets - branded, of course

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

Tonal black on black over at Dries Van Noten

The smallest invitation in our edit, the Maison Martin Margiela card may have been mini...

... but it maxed out on impact with its enclosed Metro carnet ticket and stamped ’invitation’ labelling