In fashion's restless search for ideas, some designers get to make history while others merely interpret it. As Vivienne Westwood demonstrated yesterday, the past can too easily enthrall at the expense of the present.
Westwood has shown before that she has an impressive grasp of historical costume, and initially the erroneous impression was given that here would be another trawl through the archives.
The show was called La Belle Helene, not after Offenbach - although the composer did feature on the soundtrack - but in homage to Rubens's beautiful and much-painted second wife.
Westwood opted to look to the early 1950s when Christian Dior and Jacques Fath dominated Parisian fashion. Tailored suits of tightly waisted peplum jackets and pencil skirts stopping on the knee appeared in endlessly subtle variations during a long show.
She drapes fabric wonderfully, and her use of rich materials such as taffeta is more skilled than almost anyone else. The lavish bodice folds were invariably perfect but repeated too often to maintain their initial good impression. Elsewhere, there were figure-caressing knitted dresses and sweaters in which an Yves Klein blue was dominant.
Twentieth-century history was also to the fore at Chanel earlier in the day, thanks to the fabled in-house collection of material on which designer Karl Lagerfeld can draw. In every Chanel collection, there must be examples of the suit which above all else embodies this label. Yesterday it came in a nubbly silk tweed in shades of pale salmon and taupe, shot through with broad luminous bands.
Perhaps more important was the use of zips on the jacket in place of buttons; this change indicated Lagerfeld's intention to offer an updated Chanel by introducing elements of casual sportswear. What followed was a more easygoing line than in the past, with mixed results.
The approach required is more gentle than was sometimes the case yesterday. Still, there were enough good pieces to ensure the label's following remains as loyal as ever. Double-faced Lycra jackets, for example, with their seams visible on the outer layer, looked terrifically fresh as did what were described as trompe l'oeil trousers, in which an additional wrap of fabric was added to give the impression of a skirt at the front.
Then there were sportswear hoodies given the Chanel touch in grey georgette and teamed with straight-leg denim jeans. Maybe these will come to be regarded as part of fashion's history; just for the moment, there is the next season to be managed and few designers are allowing themselves to think beyond that.