Louis Vuitton wraps up fashion marathon in Paris

PARIS - Designer Marc Jacobs put on a stylish show for Louis Vuitton today, capping a four-week fashion marathon which seemed to encourage fashion victims to wear more sober clothes -- and to start knitting.

Front row guests including actress Catherine Deneuve and hip-hop star Pharrell Williams nodded as the American designer paraded models wearing wide trousers and straight tops or knitted grey dresses worn over three-quarter length trousers.

Jacobs' show for Louis Vuitton, the jewel in the crown of luxury group LVMH, ended a month-long fashion extravaganza for buyers, editors and sector specialists which took them to catwalks in New York, London, Milan and Paris.

For France's Deneuve, however, the world's fashion capital remains non-negotiable.

"Paris is just special," Deneuve said before the show. "I don't say that there are no other cities in America or Italy. But everybody wants to show in Paris."

Hollywood actresses and pop stars were rare in the front rows of Paris catwalks this week, perhaps preparing for their appearance at the US Academy Awards later today.

The stars missed spectacular shows, featuring dogs and cats on the catwalk at Jean-Paul Gaultier, a flying penis as an abstract theme at Vivienne Westwood's show, and a holographic appearance of supermodel Kate Moss at Alexander McQueen.

Not to forget the clothes of course. Specialists say the collections point to a more sober trend for next autumn and winter, with black being the dominant colour and one layer of fabric not being enough for those who want to be trendy.

"The collections have been very sober, because we return into a minimalism," said Glenda Bailey, editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar. "We've seen a lot of British inspiration. We've seen a lot of the return of the 80s -- skinny pants or leggings or foot-less tights, worn under blazers or big baggy knitwear."

Black was also a prominent colour at Lanvin, where designer Alber Elbaz sent out models in A-line shaped coats or tops, or a black dress with a transparent back.

"It is almost not decorated. There is very little embroidery, very little accessories -- just cuts and fabric and treatment and proportions," Elbaz told reporters after the show in a gilded theatre in the centre of Paris.

"Every decade we just change proportions in what we do. It is the same jacket, the same dress, but different proportions."

Deneuve and other front row guests applauded as Elbaz showed off models wearing sleek black outfits or skin-coloured dresses with a blue or green see-through layer on top.

"It's a darker season. A lot of dark colour," said Amy Astley, editor-in-chief at Teen Vogue.

"I think the main silhouette that emerges is a skinny leg -- black leggings or tights -- and a heavy little ankle boot on the foot," she said. "I think that's the trend that's going to translate to the street and to the real woman."

- REUTERS