No protesters or mud pies as fur flies down catwalks

JEAN PAUL Gaultier took a walk on the wild side in Paris yesterday with a collection in which furs and skins of every kind, real and fake, dominated the catwalk. Pelts crowned the models' heads, opulently decorated their bags and boots and a whole crocodile skin rearing up the back of a tuxedo brought a new meaning to a suit of tails.

It was hard to imagine Catherine Deneuve sitting in the front row in such kit, but the collection also demonstrated how beautifully and strikingly animal prints enliven everything from delicate evening chiffons to everyday streetwear like a puffa jacket or a trench coat in zany zebra stripes. The mix of the primitive and the sophisticated defined this collection.

The designer who was responsible for the mermaid gown worn by Oscar award-winning actress Marion Cotillard last weekend staged his show in his palatial headquarters in the Bastille.

No animal rights protesters stormed the handsome former trade union building or threw mud pies at the models, and on a day in which fur featured in nearly every collection, fur no longer seems a controversial issue here in Paris.

Dries Van Noten's use of fur and multicoloured print was equally lavish, but more off-key. His approach was "the strut of youth with a taste for finery" and his combination of marbled print dresses with oversize or patchworked furs in bright colours seemed curiously brash for such a subtle hand. Abstract print worked more effectively in the knitwear and the tightly shredded ruffled dresses than in mannish trouser suits despite the sophisticated colour palette. There were some lovely items such as brocaded red coat and a black silk dress decorated with exotic flowers the very stuff of the modern Bohemian.

The clientele for Andrew Gn are well-heeled urban women who like luxury and feminine detail and he delivered both in a slick show that offered plenty of trim grey cashmere suits, sweet ruffle blouses and movie star pleated gowns in gorgeous colours.

The same clear commercial appeal was obvious at Akris, a Swiss company increasingly known for its fashion design as much as for its innovative fabrics. It's a label that attracts a strong international executive following with Condoleezza Rice being one of its more high-profile customers. Shapes were linear and elongated with the occasional dramatic flourish.