After a week in Paris of some 90 catwalk shows, the new structured, but roomier silhouettes shaping up for winter were evident as the major collections drew the international season to a close yesterday.
Alexander McQueen, master of the controlled cut and theatrical presentations staged his in Zenith, a rock music venue in eastern Paris. The lesser-known but impressive Martin Grant produced a small but elegant show of couture quality in the Salle Gabriel near Concorde.
Inspired by the Salem witch trials through a family link to one of the women hanged there, McQueen's collection featured a pentagram of black sand as a stage and a 45ft high inverted pyramid as a movie projection screen.
Such technicalities tended to overwhelm the production as models struggled on their hand-carved heels to keep their balance in beehive pinafores, cocoon coats, gold body mouldings and chariot dresses straight out of Anthony and Cleopatra.
There were flashes of McQueen magic and that hard angularity and dark romance for which he is famous - such as a flared black coat piped with patent or a long green dress blazing with copper beads, but it wasn't enough to save what was more costume drama than desirable ready-to-wear.
On Saturday, Hermes winged us to the venerable Theatre du Chatelet where luxury leather was the focus of the winter collection, a point driven home by a Harley Davidson on the runway, in gleaming chrome and leather.
It made for a polished line-up of lovely coats - swing coats, greatcoats and frock coats - worn with high boots and biker caps. Classy shawl collared grey cashmere suits and Aran knits had Hermes's signature thoroughbred look and patent croc bags worn like muffs were a playful Gaultier touch.
But it was Marc Jacobs's stellar collection for Louis Vuitton that stole yesterday's shows and ended the week on a high note. His "homage to Vermeer" was a painterly play of subtle colours on the revived smock shapes that made them look cool and contemporary.
