Last July Peter O'Brien made his debut on the haute couture catwalk with a lovely collection of jet-beaded kimonos, jumpsuits and long gowns inspired by the Edwardian beauty, Lady Lavery.
This first foray into the highest echelons of French fashion can be seen in Ireland early next year when O'Brien presents the show in Dublin.
O'Brien, however, still has his day job in Paris as fashion designer for the prestigious perfume house, Rochas.
After several seasons' absence from the ready-to-wear calendar, Rochas has decided to exploit the full potential of its charismatic name and returned to the catwalk yesterday with its spring 2001 collection.
"We took pictures of all our favourite ladies from Dorothy Parker to Angelica Heuston and imagined how we would dress them," O'Brien said, explaining the theme for his show.
Beautiful, finely pleated chiffon dresses evoked the drop-waisted silhouettes of the 1920s. These flowed seamlessly into fluid, Argyle-patterned viscose knits, their diamond patterning was replicated ultimately in long, checked ball skirts, cleverly cut on the bias.
O'Brien's show fell on the last day of a packed four-week, four-city tour of fashion shows that began in New York last month.
The closing hours of the busy schedule also brought collections from Vivienne Westwood, Thierry Mugler, John Galliano and Tom Ford of Gucci's much-awaited debut at Yves Saint Laurent, which was unveiled late yesterday evening.
Even before his show Ford had left his mark on the French, inspiring other designers to produce some of the best Paris shows we've seen in a long while.
Earlier in the day, American designer Narciso Rodriguez, famed for his beautiful simple bias-cut wedding dress for the late Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, made his latest presentation for the Madrid-based leather house Loewe, which is now owned by luxury fashion empire LVMH.
Luxury is the word, for few will be able to afford the luxury of investing in white suede, which accounted for a number of highly desirable bloused shirts, turn-up shorts and jeans in the show.
More practical, perhaps, were black draped jersey dresses and black leather and silk trouser suits.
In some quarters footballers are regarded as demigods, and it looks like John Galliano subscribes to that view.
For the finale of a presentation that began with a deja-vu reprise of his Dior collection and then morphed into his own label, he sent models down the catwalk in footballers' shirts with their arms outspread and haloes on their heads.
He may be a Catholic but perhaps sport has become the now super-fit Galliano's new religion.
The 1980s have been an underlying theme in Paris, so understandably all eyes were on Thierry Mugler, for Mugler left an indelible mark on the era with his strong-shouldered hourglass silhouette. He didn't revive the power suit but those hourglass curves emphasised by tight belts looked provocative all the same.
Mugler was in fun-loving mood, showing a selection of white dresses with trompe-l'oeil suntan marks across shoulders and legs, much to the amusement of his sun-worshipping clientele. They can now get a suntan without suffering long-term skin damage. Now, that's a good idea.