Paris Fashion Week: Ghesquiere triumphs at Louis Vuitton

The Zoolander affair may have hijacked Valentino's show in Paris on Tuesday, but as Paris Fashion Week drew to a close nothing stood in the way of the strong winter collection from Nicolas Ghesquiere, his second at Louis Vuitton.

It underscored some of the week’s trends, including the stress on craft and handwork, narrower coats, trouser suits and a lot of light reflecting embellishment.

Chez Vuitton, three massive geodesic domes with glossy orange and green seating were erected beside Frank Gehry’s soaring glass and steel building in the Jardin d’Acclimatation for the event. Nobody seemed bothered by a tethered drone overhead.

Sunlight shone down through the windows on the opening numbers - huge chubby coats and jackets in white or leopard print fur, skinny pants, ankle boots and mini-trunk style bags, gear suitable for a cool city girl in winter.

Other coats were sharper cover-ups in navy or banana wool, a brooch glinting at the collar. These formed counterpoints to the boned lingerie dresses in blue, black or white.

But this being Vuitton, it was ultimately about luxury and youth. The designer stressed the point with flirty suits of gold tweed, skirts like molten silver, slash front knits gleaming with sparkle and seductive appeal.

It was girly and a little rock n’ roll but with a tough modernity and confidence - trouser suits were lean and narrow in nighttime black or silver satin and some jackets had leg of mutton sleeves for a strong shoulderline.

The finale, a suit that reinterpreted the famous Murakami print in black and white, kept the Vuitton codes quite literally in check.

Alexander McQueen

At Alexander McQueen's show in the vaults of the Conciergerie, the ancient prison where Marie Antoinette and thousands of others spent their last days, designer Sarah Burton kept her head and sent out an exquisite collection based on the idea of a rose as a symbol of strength and fragility "forever on the brink of dishevelment".

What that meant in reality was shapely dresses with appliqué roses, shiny black coats in rose print jacquard, lace printed trouser suits and fan pleated leather skirts the colour of blood.

With their bird’s nest hairdos, bee stung lips and bleached out faces, the models drove home the sense of decay and fading beauty.