| We all know that the lucrative accessory and | | | | pleasure to wear. An extraordinarily gifted |
| fragrance lines stamped with a designer's name | | | | craftsman, Watanabe effortlessly incorporates |
| support the international ready-to- wear industry | | | | back- packs and bonnets into dresses, capes into |
| but, at last week's Paris collections, this message | | | | skirts and handbags into jackets, all in a way that |
| was hammered home to the point of no return. | | | | never seems overworked. |
| Piling everything but the kitchen sink on to a | | | | Yohji Yamamoto, as always, went out on an |
| model's slender frame - the shoes, the bag, the | | | | idiosyncratic limb. His was a masterclass in tailoring. |
| belt, the sunglasses - then plastering the lot with | | | | Curvy jackets crafted in interfacing boasted |
| logos to the point that the clothes themselves | | | | tacking-stitches tracing darts and seams. These |
| were all but obscured from view is not what | | | | looked sweet but never sickly, teamed with |
| fashion needs right now. | | | | overblown calico skirts - quite the most glamorous |
| Valentino sent out one handbag after another. | | | | toiles in fashion history. Towards the end of the |
| Louis Vuitton added monogrammed visors, | | | | show, the designer relaxed his message and sent |
| baseball caps and even umbrella shields to its | | | | out Thirties- inspired cocktail suits in liquid satin. |
| already predominantly accessory-led range. The | | | | Moulded to the body in a web of complex seams, |
| Christian Dior logo was back with a bang; the | | | | these were, quite simply, sublime. Oh, and the |
| house also came up with a new handbag, pair of | | | | only accessories on display were feather parasols |
| boots and a scarf print for the season. What | | | | which will, needless to say, never go into |
| does it matter that the latter looked more like | | | | widescale production. Yamamoto's more |
| classic Hermes? Celine's accessories appeared to | | | | reasonably- priced second line, Yohji Noir, his |
| hail from Brobdingnag: bigger, better and, well, | | | | Ysaac accessories and money- spinning |
| more brash than ever before. | | | | fragrances continue to facilitate his main line |
| To make matters more unpalatable still, the first | | | | quietly and without fanfare, and, most |
| Paris season for the next millennium seemed, at | | | | importantly, without ever compromising the |
| times, so hung up on the late Seventies early | | | | integrity of the clothes. |
| Eighties as to be lacking inspiration entirely. This | | | | Martin Margiela's appointment as designer-in-chief |
| was not only apparent in the omnipresence of | | | | at Hermes, one of the greatest status labels of |
| aforementioned logos, but also in the trashy | | | | them all, was made without fanfare more than |
| over-exposure of flesh, disco-diva silhouette, | | | | two years ago. His collection for the label was, |
| predominance of gold plate and prevalence of killer | | | | once again, equally understated - clothes for |
| heels everywhere. | | | | women who spend their days rambling the French |
| There were, happily, exceptions to the rule. Rei | | | | countryside with not a care nor a Kelly bag in the |
| Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons was on | | | | world, dressed in clothes that whisper luxury |
| typically innovative - if at times also typically | | | | rather than scream it. There was the perfect |
| opaque - form. Models, their hair teased into | | | | cashmere jumper and/or honey coloured coat, an |
| crowns of ringlets, their feet clad in pointed | | | | immaculately cut pair of trousers and just the pair |
| slippers sprouting sprays of leaves, resembled | | | | of espadrilles - in softest leather, not grubby old |
| fairy princesses for the 21st century. There was | | | | canvas - to see the Hermes customer through |
| more than a touch of the deconstructed Toulouse | | | | the summer. Margiela shows this collection on |
| Lautrec showgirl: ruffled collars and underskirts | | | | women of all ages, safe in the knowledge that |
| also paul smith,Abercrombie and Fitch,dsquared | | | | Hermes is unlikely ever to inspire a youthquake. It |
| which looked as if they had been crafted out of | | | | looked all the better for it. |
| crepe paper were as pretty as a picture, finishing | | | | The designer's own line was conceptually more |
| gauzy fabrics and a narrow and unashamedly | | | | ambitious, but no less accomplished. Oversized |
| feminine silhouette. | | | | jackets and coats, worn over equally voluminous |
| Comme protege Junya Watanabe came up with | | | | cotton skirts and sweatshirts made for refreshing |
| the finest offering of his career so far. This was | | | | viewing, surrounded as they were by the sea of |
| both an exercise in the technological advancement | | | | itsy-bitsy bikinis and skirts that barely grazed the |
| that preoccupies Japanese designers - all the | | | | thigh on less women-friendly runways. These may |
| fabrics were newly developed for the show and | | | | set the flashbulbs popping, but perform little other |
| waterproof - and charming throughout. To the | | | | function than that. Come the spring, Belgium's |
| strains of a Karen Carpenter medley, and the | | | | greatest designer's collection will no doubt be |
| shower of rain that cascaded from exposed pipes | | | | available in smaller sizes for those who would |
| running the length of the catwalk, models came | | | | rather not be swamped by their clothes for the |
| out in neat, Sixties-style shift dresses and | | | | sake of an argument, albeit a politically-correct |
| oversized headscarves, as well as skinny tailoring | | | | one. |
| with just enough stretch to make them a | | | | |