KEY POINTS:
When John Galliano took over the Orangerie and gardens of the Baroque Palace of Versailles to open the autumn/winter haute couture season in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the house of Christian Dior, he was raising the standards of even this most rarefied of worlds to unprecedented heights.
If ever there is a counterpoint to the democratisation of fashion at the hands of the high street and an opportunity for fashion's mega-brands to flex their muscle, this is it.
If the sandy stone vault of this harmonious space weren't lovely enough, Galliano had installed a 130m, bright-white catwalk flanked by mythological creatures on pedestals, garlands of white roses and urns spilling hydrangeas, their foliage sprayed gleaming silver. The space was flooded with ultra-violet light.'
A Degas ballerina in pretty pink tulle arrived one minute, a crimson-clad Spanish princess in ruby-encrusted blood-red gown and towering black lace mantilla the next.
The bucolic beauty of Watteau and Fragonard was much in evidence, as was the more majestic and imposing glamour of the leading ladies of Goya, El Greco and Velasquez.
To fully appreciate the excess of haute couture, it is worth noting that one delicate, floor-sweeping gown, in particular, appliqued with water-lilies and inspired by Monet, required 70m of satin, organza and tulle and 230 hours to make.
Galliano's Versailles extravaganza was a brilliantly thought-out collection.
It is now a quarter of a century since the German-born fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld took over at that other grand French institution, Chanel, which put on a show of serene elegance and class.
Guests were invited to the outskirts of Paris just beyond the Bois de Boulogne, where Chanel's models took to the runway in a suitably manicured formal French garden, which retained its order despite the rain that poured and the puddles that formed on the pristine lawns.
The models strode in their vertiginous talon-heeled shoes in clothing that was just as elaborate as might be expected, given the craftsmanship and heritage that went into their creation.
For the most part, they looked wonderfully easy to wear, nonetheless.
The famed Chanel boucle wool suit came in autumnal colours this time - rosehip red and French navy - with a windowpane check.
When the well-heeled Chanel couture customer comes to face the cold snap, she might like to do so in an emerald green cashmere cocoon coat with cashmere ski pants to match.
This was, however, a predominantly eveningwear-led collection, as shown by the tuxedo stripes racing down everything from stockings to gloves.
Everything looked impeccable, from the most apparently simple, ivory silk column to overblown princess dresses in faded country garden colours and, of course, endless variations of the little black dress.
This display of virtuosity went to show that it is indeed possible to load everything but the kitchen sink on to a dress - feathers, sequins, jewels, ribbons and bows - and for it still to appear as light as the proverbial feather.
Lagerfeld is too experienced a couturier to allow himself to be carried away by the might of the Paris ateliers, after all, and demonstrates just the amount of restraint needed to ensure Chanel functions not only on the catwalk but in the real world, too.
- INDEPENDENT
