When he left New York in 2001to show his collections in Paris, his absence was also felt. Fortunately for those of us who follow the season from city to city, instead of the historically one show he held in New York, we were treated with two in Paris – one for menswear and one for womenswear.

The Fall 2005 Paris menswear season marks the fashion world’s loss of Helmut Lang as a designer. He has reasons for leaving; and whatever it is, I respect it. Yet, this season, without him on the official calendar, many, including this journalist, felt the void he left behind.

Helmut Lang’s show is one of the highlights of the week for me. His modern and contemporary approach to dressing is sanity in fashion, a sobering tone that is a whisper in a world that shouts.

But that whisper is so powerful, that everyone hears and listens; in fact, everyone waits for the next one for what he will say next.

Rumors are going around Paris that Raf Simons is in talks with Prada to fill the vacancy left by Helmut Lang. Raf Simons’ silhouette and vision is reminiscent of the Austrian-born designer.

But, not taking away from Raf Simons who is a good designer in his own right, Helmut Lang will continue to be missed by the fashion world for a long time.

So today, as I wait for my plane that will bring me to Dallas so that I can pick up a new suitcase full of clean clothes to go to New York, I’m also mourning Helmut Lang’s absence from the fashion scene, with the hope that he will come back in the future because it will really be a shame if we don’t see his design genius in another form, not necessarily on clothing and apparel.