The world's top designers were in dark, serious mode at Paris fashion week, unveiling sober yet charming collections for autumn and winter that were ultra-feminine and very wearable Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton wrapped up the hectic, month-long fashion tour which had brought buyers, journalists and other industry professionals to Paris for eight days of catwalk shows, after stops in New York, London and Milan.
"Energy, reason and charm," luxury fashion consultant Jean-Jacques Picart said, summing up the collections unveiled by nearly 100 designers in the French capital.
"Paris was serious," he said, pointing to an overall trend of dark clothes with lots of black for next winter. Picart described the collections as "very wearable" but not without the power to charm.
Black reigned at Chanel where Karl Lagerfeld went in for layering, teaming wide trousers under a full-skirted dress, or trailing the back of a blouse to the ankle under a belted jacket and over a mini skirt.
John Galliano's black and red "gothic chic" for Christian Dior made a stark statement, in sharp contrast to the soft romance of Jean Paul Gaultier's billowy sleeves in chocolate, rust, midnight blue or bronzey green.
Even Christian Lacroix's rich, intricate embroidery and sophisticated patterns largely fell in line with the darker mood, which also saw Olivier Theyskens kick off his collection at Rochas with sober pant suits.
Cats, dogs and even an owl made an appearance alongside the models on the Paris catwalks, while British supermodel Kate Moss also emerged thanks to her compatriot Alexander McQueen -- but only as a hologram.
Masks also seemed to be de rigueur.
Dutch design duo Viktor and Rolf covered their models' faces in enlarged fishnet for their collection of untouchable poise, and the cover-up continued with more masks at Hermes.
At McQueen, a bride appeared in a dream-like vision with tall antlers on her head wrapped in a veil, while the speckled wings of a bird enfolded the face for his graceful creations.
Contrasts came into play with thick versus transparent fabrics and short hemlines versus oversized silhouettes. Yohji Yamamoto's playful take on proportion saw the excess width deliberately folded up at the waist on baggy trousers.
Skinny trousers were also popular, but so were slouchy sweater dresses, like those on offer from Jacobs at Vuitton, where comfortable chic ruled the runway.
Miuccia Prada brought her diffusion line Miu Miu to the French capital for the first time, in a bid to "better distinguish the two labels which are often mixed up" on the Milan catwalks.
Golden thread lit up the deep reds, bronzey greens or shades of grey the Italian designer used for micro-mini dresses and super short skirts. End result: a collection with a decidedly youthful flair.
US fashion guru Andre Leon Talley, editor-at-large for style bible Vogue, said he sensed slow, subtle change in the air above the catwalks.
"I think there's a slow evolution for a new kind of dressing. I don't know where we're going, I don't know what it is and I cannot define it yet," he said.
But he hailed Nicolas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga and Lagerfeld at Chanel for creating this season's "defining moments."
"Those are the two collections that had the total focus of vision, a return to a kind of a volume in the clothes, a lightness in the clothes and a new way of dressing in layers," he said.
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