Dior, the French fashion house known for the dreamy beauty of its clothes, showed a new much tougher side in its Paris menswear show Saturday.

It's wasn't quite skinhead chic but it wasn't far from it with every trope in the punk wardrobe from string vests to dangling trouser braces referenced, invariably set off by big Dr Marten-style boots.

These Dior boys meant business and you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of them.

Dark, moody and menacing, there was even something slightly S&M in the way that Dior's Belgium-born designer Kris Van Assche managed to turn the braces into chest armour-cum-jewellery.

There were still more echoes of punk in the check shirts and evocations of the ghost of Johnny Rotten's tartan in the clever red stitching against the collection's predominantly black core.

The two stand-out pieces were pure punk fantasy, a blouson and a sleeveless jacket and trousers completely covered in boot eyelets, with laces hanging from each one.

Van Assche, however, played down the punkiness, preferring to cite "New Wave romanticism" as its inspiration, as well as his own "very good memories of New Wave music" from such cult goth bands as The Cure and The Sisters of Mercy.

More from Paris Menswear Fashion Week: Here's what Louis Vuitton, Rick Owens and Issey Miyake brought to the table.