Crystals and jewels for Balmain, ancient Greece by Valerie Hash and a monochromatic theme echoed by Gareth Pugh during the second day of Paris Fashion Week.
Glitter and sequins have a military and sometimes rebellious shine, and shine they did at Balmain's triumphant spring-summer collection on Sunday night.
In previous collections, creative director Christophe Decarnin has presented ripped shirts teamed with bejewelled jackets; this time around, it's his jeans that go trash: ripped, acid-washed and covered with white clouds.
But that high-low combo that's worked so well for Decarnin in the past was there: the skinnies embroidered with rhinestone crosses, paired with shrunken military coats richly decorated with sequins, studs, crystals and huge silver buttons.
The jeans are scrunched over equally-bejewelled sandals. Radically wide shoulders gave jackets an air of seductive confidence - for those fierce Balmain girls in straight studded skirts or draped micro-mini dresses who probably don't need it anyway.
Little tutu dresses - some worn with studded belts, some cut asymmetrically, short at the front and trailing at the back - showed a slightly more grown-up sensuality.
Greek inspiration for Valerie Hash
Anne Valerie Hash took an audacious bet with her collection, teaming ancient Greece with a modern design look. And she won it.
"I tried to do a mix: design for the pure lines, and ancient Greece for the draping," she said.
The result was a wardrobe of feminine grace: jersey dresses draped over a shoulder, low backs revealing pale chiffon and tiny buttons outlining shoulders.
The designer was looking for "lightness, fluidity and twists".
"It's far more feminine than before," she said, especially in the looks taken from mens wear and re-thought for women, such as a white suit or a open-backed jacket which looked like a man's blazer worn backwards.
Hi-five to high street
Testament to the unyielding power of the high street, Beyonce's sister Solange Knowles - face of Armani Jeans, no less - was not ashamed to say the black lace dress she wore to Gareth Pugh's show was from Spanish giant Zara, known for its quick turn-around of runway looks.
"The belt and shoes are Armani," the singer-songwriter hastened to add. The dress, available in UAE stores now, is a short-sleeved version of Prada's winter lace sheath.
Not ‘in' vogue
Rick Owens may have been gladly accommodated at Gareth Pugh's show, but things were a little different at his own show the following day, according to a venom-laced report on style.com.
While French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld got entry, the other Vogue editors were "left out in the cold". Jealous much? Another victim of the clipboard clique was Lenny Kravitz, whom security refused to let through despite pleas of "it's Lenny Kravitz" from his publicists. He apparently joined the other ticketless but ingenious fashionistas in sneaking in through a side entrance.
