Women in sunglasses and body-hugging designs sashayed down a sleek, black runway beneath an Eiffel Tower glowing orange in the night.
Wisps of fringe swished from the hem of a lemon-yellow creation, its model clutching a shiny handbag adorned with safety pins.
The eyes of the couture world have been fixed even more than usual on France’s always-chic capital in recent days, as designers showed off their latest work for Paris Fashion Week after going mostly virtual for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While most of this season’s 97 shows have remained online as the country recovers from another wave of COVID-19 infections, about a third opted for a physical return to the runway, including industry heavyweights from Chanel and Hermes to Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent.
They chose an eclectic collection of iconic backdrops – alongside the Notre Dame Cathedral, the River Seine, and the tree-lined 16th-century Jardin des Tuileries in central Paris.
After one show in the fashionable Le Marais district, models strutted into the streets to enthusiastic cheers from surprised bystanders.
The event also was not lacking for star power, with the likes of Gillian Anderson, Carla Bruni, Naomi Campbell, Catherine Deneuve, Roger Federer, Vanessa Kirby, Demi Moore and Rosamund Pike making appearances.
France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, joined top officials one evening at the Hotel des Invalides for the showing of a new collection by Italian designer Fabio Porlod featuring female amputees and women who have been injured.
The country’s defence ministry called the initiative “part of a charity evening whose funds raised will improve the living environment of seriously wounded war victims, victims of attacks and people hospitalised at the National Institution of Invalides”.
Visit Paris Fashion Week online www.parisfashionweek.fhcm.paris