One wonders if Yohji Yamamoto was taking an amusing sideswipe at all the French and Italian luxury brands who produce fashion collections in order to sell more handbags, because the collection he sent out on Sunday night was inspired by none other than the handbag.
With his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, Yamamoto showed black jersey, silk and satin dresses suspended from the shoulders on handbag straps with the frame of the bag clasping the gathers of fabric like a yoke from the neck.
Yamamoto's inspiration was a dainty pouch-shaped Edwardian reticule with a twist clasp, a world away from the graphic-shaped, logo-smothered bags which have swung down the catwalk in recent seasons.
His spring collection, among the early offerings from Paris as the catwalk collections enter their final week, was as innovative as ever. There were the tailored elements, baggy and slightly corkscrewed around the body, and the loose more amorphous shapes, which revive memories of the early Japanese collections of the 1980s, when Yamamoto and his compatriot, Rei Kawakubo, of Comme des Garcons, first hit the scene.
As in Milan, there is a feeling that designers are on a quest for something new but no one has quite defined what it is going to be. Designers have been searching back through their archives, rehashing old looks which take fashion away from the vintage, girlie and rock chick looks of recent years.
In Paris, the rock chick look still holds sway, especially at Balmain and Lanvin, who opened the Paris week.
The heavy metal music at Lanvin was a clear indication of where Christina Ortiz's inspiration lies. Bloused tops with either deep-slashed necklines or split sides (a prevailing trend in Milan) were loosely tucked into slender trousers and skirts with low-slung waistlines. Graffiti prints sprinkled with disco sparkle and early 1980s-style black satinised cotton trouser suits served to emphasise Lanvin's rock chic look.
Balmain, who sacked its designer, Gilles Dufour, after last season's show for presenting explicit slogans on his T-shirts, presented a design studio effort based on outsized dogtooth checks. Tight skirts, slender trousers and the briefest bikinis were mixed with rivet-trimmed leather jackets and T-shirts emblazoned with the house logo. The collection pandered to the couture customers but offered a little edginess for the younger clientele it is pursuing.
Christian Lacroix's presentation proved to be one of the early revelations of Paris. While Lacroix's haute couture is a bold and inspired vision, he often loses his way with his ready-to-wear. Not so for spring, which opened with a group of black dinner suits and dresses which corkscrewed around the body.
Asymmetry is gaining currency among designers and it looks as if the public is ready for it judging by the number of asymmetric hems wandering around the high streets this past summer. Lacroix translated the look into boldly printed dresses with big patent patchwork belts which will be on shopping lists come spring.