Slimane in sombre mood at Paris Dior show

PARIS - The Dior front row included Michael Stipe, Malcolm McLaren, L'wren Scott, Gus Van Sant, Catherine Deneuve, Karl Lagerfeld and Charlotte Rampling.

It promised to be quite a party.

Instead, the mood became chilly and sombre.

Hedi Slimane's sleek forms and switchblade detailing were as ruthless as ever in the cropped tuxedos, massive Oxford bags and satin cummerbunds emerging onto a black runway, but the relentless black, white and grey palette encapsulated the tensions of a curiously restrained season.

Only a year ago, Slimane had sent a battalion of preening, glittering rainbow rockers down the catwalk.

This time, his young men were vampiric, deathly pale and anxious.

Even the designer's curtain call seemed like a ghostly apparition, a pale figure half-seen in the shadows.

From sublime to ridiculous: the Givenchy autumn/winter show was memorable solely for designer Ozwald Boateng's jaw-dropping narcissism.

The collection was typical, based around his long, leggy, crotch-hugging silhouette and penchant for Savile Row-style tailoring.

But his fabrics seemed dull and his ideas unfocused.

At the finale, Boateng screamed, shook his hips, and minced his way up the catwalk like a drunken Spice Girl.

Memo to Ozwald: John Galliano gets away with self-adulation because his work is remarkable, not because we think he is sexy.

As usual, Galliano mixed his caricatured Dickensian silhouette with Eighties nightlife shapes and finished with his models in underwear.

As usual, the show's amusing but gimmicky production values and visual puns all but obscured his awesome design talent.

Dries Van Noten produced a powerful, low-key collection based on crisp tailoring and clever use of animal prints in scarves, faded shirts, and raglan macs.

Somehow, he made snakeskin print trousers and a sharp double-breasted jacket look like an orthodox combination, and his sly humour shone through in an immaculate black cashmere coat with a tiger-print lining.

At Yves Saint Laurent, Stefano Pilati imagined a house party in the Scottish Highlands where dandies dressed up in checked, belted coats or narrow jackets secured with a pin.

Marc Jacobs took Louis Vuitton to higher altitudes still, with nylon ski jackets and shiny anoraks offering some semblance of practicality alongside the fur gilets, patent leather hiking boots and chinchilla ear-muffs.

Down-filled jackets were the big story at Raf Simons, where oversized volumes - at chest-level, at least - continue to preoccupy the Belgian designer.

Worn with slim, high-waisted trousers, the best of them were doubled-up or flared out as A-line coats.

Lanvin's new creative director, Alber Elbaz, got off to a strong start with a collection based around a clean, lean, very Parisian silhouette, and a subtle military theme running through the brass-buttoned trenchcoats and velvet trousers.

There was also a martial feel to Yohji Yamamoto's typically boxy jackets, which were emblazoned with stars or hung with medals.

Elsewhere, his black or navy tailoring had complicated pleated lapels, with an occasional flash of blood-red.

The brightest moment, though, came with the appearance of the most vividly coloured trainers known to man - a result of his ongoing collaboration with Adidas - which were decorated by the artist Taishi Hayashi.

At Paul Smith the runway was set with Queen Anne armchairs covered with Navajo print throws, hinting at the synthesis of English old money and western themes.

As with Dries, the waistcoat was a principal element, rather than a suit accessory.

There were moleskin velvet corduroys in soft chocolate and burnt orange, worn with rodeo belts.

Dr John's "Right Place, Wrong Time" gave a nod to New Orleans, as riverboat gamblers in frock coats and black ribbon ties strolled out.

Then, to the twang of country music, he showed a series of elegantly embroidered cowboy shirts with jewel-coloured snap fasteners.

Once again, Kim Jones had the palest palette in Paris, opting for polar white shirts, sweaters, and sportswear macs.

With Prince's "Freedom" pumping out, the Jones guys seemed aloof and almost airy.

The influence of New York consultant Andre Walker was evident in the purple glitter lapels on a grape tuxedo, the A-line pleated jackets, cropped pinstripe bombers, and an immaculate belted khaki trenchcoat with matching trousers.

"It was about my love of pop culture," said Jones afterwards.

"In particular Warhol, but also Jeff Koons and Keith Haring, and Claes Oldenberg."At Hermes, Veronique Nichanian stripped the palette down to four greys, three reds, black and bronze, and showed the power of colour used simply and boldly.

The heaviest hitters of a punchy set were the scarlet lambskin blouson with black striped wool pants, and the scarlet crocodile bomber jacket.

With Hermes, the devil is in the detail and Nichanian used a shorter jacket length and smaller volumes, combined with luxurious and innovative fabric combinations (foam cashmere, anyone?) Only the most conservative could deny that Jean Paul Gaultier was the highlight of the season.

He mixed male and female models to emphasise his new conceptGaultier2, whereby men and women can wear the same collection.

Combined with a Fellini-esque, androgynous casting, this was ultra-Parisian sophistication, all trenchcoats and sunglasses, black berets with smoking jackets and sailor pants worn by both sexes, and some of indeterminate gender.

The models walked as if in an opium haze, with cigarette holders and velvet slippers, kohl-lined eyelids and Sphinx-like gazes, dressed in exquisitely made clothes, like the bottle green velvet jacket and check kilt.

To "Bonnie & Clyde" by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, Gaultier nodded towards Orthodox monks, Ottoman sultans, bullfighters, fin de siecle opium fiends, Forties lounge lizards, Sixties bikers, Seventies YSL, and Eighties nightlife.

This show underlined his absolute mastery of his metier and suggested he may be reaching the peak of his powers.

"I believe there's a new search for exuberance taking form, and I wanted to reflect that," he said afterwards.

"And, without feminising my menswear collection in any way, I tried to show how easily you can flop from male to female, and vice versa." Mission achieved, and then some.

- INDEPENDENT