PARIS — Men in skirts or men in suits? The question seems to have been in debate at least since the androgynous 1980s. Out pop the same challenges every men's wear season.

But the gender play in the spring-summer 2012 Paris shows seems more intriguing. Designers are looking at a global market that includes cultures — and not just Scotland — where male/female garments are fluid. And attitudes in the 21st century are so much more open to the idea that hard and soft can coexist in one man’s spirit and in his wardrobe.

The dichotomy was perfectly expressed at the Lanvin show on Sunday. It started with martial music and tough military looks but ultimately dissolved into layers of softness. Often there was a deliberate melding of opposing attitudes — the army-style cropped hair and longer bangs, boots versus sandals and dark, smudgy tones lightening to brighter colors. Significantly, the only classic suits were in pink, turquoise, cherry and purple.

“There is nothing more sexy than a man in uniform — that’s testosterone for me,” said Alber Elbaz, Lanvin’s style supremo, backstage, while Lucas Ossendrijver, the men’s designer, referred to the different textures that embraced strokeable leather tunics or rough-weave crepe de Chine jackets. The diversity of modern life was at the core, with the concept that the same man might wear a somber, earth-brown zippered coat or a formal jacket with leggings.