Stella McCartney's alternative for leather-clad Paris

With leather a huge trend on and off the catwalks - practically le tout Paris is in rock chick-style leather leggings or jackets - the ethical could find themselves stranded in sartorial Siberia. Enter Stella McCartney.

The latest collection from the British designer and lifelong vegetarian showed skinny faux leather and suede thigh-high boots, and fur-like wool coats, which offered a convincing, and pointed alternative, to the real versions.

The eclectic front row included Sir Paul McCartney and his girlfriend, Nancy Shevell, musicians Beth Ditto and Kanye West, Twiggy, Salma Hayek and Thandie Newton. The backdrop also carried the fame factor: a landscape montage of a Chapman brothers illustration and a photo by Sam Taylor-Wood.

The autumn/winter collection began with leather-look boots so high you couldn't see the top, teamed with a grape-coloured dress and then a shaggy coat, both in tufty wool.

The silhouette was trademark McCartney - oversized on the top, and slender on the bottom n as boots in perforated faux leather were teamed with a mannish tux jacket and red dogtooth blazer.

Another of McCartney's key looks, ultra-feminine details with sharp tailoring, was evident in a lace slip and a boxy check jacket, stretch trousers with lace versions of a classic tuxedo stripe running down the side, and a cropped tux with a white silk shift.

McCartney, who launched a range of underwear last year, frequently uses lingerie-inspired touches, and this collection featured dresses with lace inserts and delicate slips with multi-coloured panels. Pretty enough, but nothing new.

However, the designer, who headed Chloe from 1997 until she started her own label in 2001 (backed by the Gucci Group), is not known for radical experimentation and grand sartorial statements so much as sassy but wearable clothes for modern working women.

This design philosophy attracted queues for her range at H&M in 2005. Two years later her label finally went into the black and she was named British Designer of the Year.

A very different aesthetic characterised the Giambattista Valli show later yesterday - and not just because the designer didn't hold back on the fur or feathers.

While McCartney's clothes are perfect for a busy metropolitan lifestyle, Valli's collection was much grander and less obviously wearable.

Many of the voluminous but clean shapes, such as big sleeves, a full trapeze dress and a long cloak, were strongly reminiscent of Cristobal Balenciaga's designs from the 1960s and felt overly retro.

The collection became increasingly decorative towards a finale of gowns in iridescent marbled fabrics and embellished with peacock feathers.

- INDEPENDENT