Paris Fashion Week: The first of more than 80 catwalk shows previewing the autumn/winter 2006 prêt-a-porter collections had a special showing in Paris yesterday.
For the next six days the city will play host to these and other fashion-related events, including nine important salon or trade shows.
Last night a major exhibition of the work of Pierre Bonnard opened at the Musée d'Art Moderne, sponsored by LVMH, the luxury global conglomerate that owns Dior and Louis Vuitton, while Colette, the ultra-trendy Rue St Honore boutique, launched UK Jack OK!, an exhibition of British artistic and design inspiration along with a capsule fashion collection from TopShop.
A new book on the great shoe designer, Roger Vivier, will also be launched later this week.
It was in Paris 25 years ago that the Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto (63) first shocked the fashion world with his sombre parade of loose, asymmetrical garments that made black the defining colour of fashion.
Silhouette, structure and the movement of fabric still determine his conceptual approach, and he remained true to form yesterday with a collection which played with the whole notion of proportion.
Models looked like little girls dressed up in their daddy's big pinstripe suits, with shoulders too wide, waists too roomy, pockets hanging open and even hats several sizes too big, though everything hung with a curious elegance.
It was all about shape and volume. There were clothes that made dramatic silhouettes, such as a floor-length shawl falling regally from a huge hat over a shapely brown velour suit frosted with white.
Isabel Marant, whose devotees are young chic Parisiennes, had a Yohji moment at her show too: a herringbone tent coat all sloping shoulders and oversize lapels, a nod in his direction. But she can make pervasive new details that are about fullness - such as smocks or puff sleeves - chic and streetwise. The styling is always clever; a black peplum jacket over a pink satin skirt worn with thick socks, high heels and a tilted Borsalino hat caught the jaunty mood.
On a very different note, Northern Ireland designer Sharon Wauchob showed a new, more streamlined sophistication and sexiness in a collection that mixed the sheerest of sheer fabrics, such as lingerie lace or filmy chiffons, with luxurious cashmere coats.
It was an almost all-black collection, less mannered than usual, in which the key elements were black drainpipes, blocky ankle boots and revealing, cutaway jackets.
