IN A week in which everything seemed uncertain - even the hemlines in Milan - Paris fashion week opened yesterday with a show from Dior that was unashamedly sexy, colourful and upbeat.
Tribal chic was the theme of the collection in which python skin jackets and bustiers, some studded or embroidered, toughened up flouncy skirts that were sheer, short and pleated. Pleats were everywhere. Sleeveless silken jackets in abstract animal or spotted prints were belted for a soft silhouette and though the mood of the clothes was playful, fetish stilettos - all overlapping strings and straps - threatened but never downed the models. Hair, plaited and ribbed, was scraped back into severe African upstyles.
Galliano has a masterful touch with colour and it showed in some daring combinations such as a fluffy chartreuse silk dress under an orange python coat or in a jacket with a cracked porcelain finish over a soft white dress.
Sheer silk fabrics, emerging as a trend for next spring, often encrusted with silver or crystal embroidery, gave some dresses an upscale cheerleader quality, but a line-up of MGM-style floor-length goddess gowns in smoky grey, pink and black silk closed the show on a romantic note.
Two independent female designers, Sharon Wauchob and Isabel Marant, provided very different visions of modern femininity in their collections yesterday. At Marant's show, buyers seemed to outnumber the press, an indication of how successful this designer is in France.
Her collection was, as always, aimed straight at the street with its denim hot pants, lace tunics, slouchy tartan trousers and equally slouchy suede boots wrapped in silver chains. Frills and pleats surfaced here and there in ruffled mini-disco dresses with boyfriend jackets.
Interesting stand-out pieces were boleros in quilted Chinese silk and a chunky multicoloured fringed jacket. Models were all white, long-haired blondes.
Sharon Wauchob's show at the Cite de L'Architecture was all about lace. Inspired by an embroidered vintage lace hairnet, this took the form of flesh-coloured and black lace, twisted, ruched and puckered into frothy shapes. A single detail like her lovely mirrored bronze and silver embroidery was enough to decorate a black silk shift, but some items, though pretty, were overcomplicated. Best of all were the gold sequinned lace tops, shredded silk dresses and the lovely cobalt dotted black lace numbers at the finale.