The Paris Menswear Shows showed a short, sweet, but exquisite range of fur coats.

Three general themes summed up menswear for winter 2003 - padded parkas, an emphasis on seams, crafstmanship and lining and flat out rugged he-man luxury.

Early in the week, Denis Simachëv, a 28 year old Russian, presented an engaging show with fur-lined parkas and flower-strewn tuxedos. On a shoestring budget, Simachëv's collection was a refreshing mix of engaging quilted textures, ballooning pants stuffed into combat boots and the highlight: a fur lined parka built for Siberia.

His collection set the tone for fur next season - street smart and harshly beautiful.

Hermès held up their end of the luxury fashion spectrum with fur peeking out of discreet and beautifully tailored jackets and long belted coats in deerskin that sported large flat buttons.

Paul Smith, who had visited St. Petersburg, Moscow last year, was inspired enough to include warm Russian-worthy fleeces and sheepskin jackets.

Jean Paul Gaultier showed what become the ubiquitous tapered cut slim pinstriped pant worn tucked into boots, under the bohemian splendor of a full-length mink coat as well as gray cargo pants worn under bulky shearling. Gaultier kept up the quotient with his models walking down the runway with false manly sideburns and carrying beer bottles.

He also showed the most fur of the Paris collections - chocolate leather jackets lined with fur, aviator jackets with fluffy white fox hoods, and one particularly lusciously woven coffee sweater trimmed in white mink.

Finally, Kenzo Home presented the Fall/Winter 2003 collection rather than staging a catwalk. Likely to be a big hit, the aged leather parkas in black, gray, plum and goldenrod erupted with silvery fur or shearling collars.