Optimism ruled the runways at the Paris collections, where designers of all ages, origins and affiliations - avant-garde and old-school, extroverted and obscure - said au revoir to Sars, war and a lagging luxury market by embracing a new femininity for spring. Here, everything you need to know - the mood, muses and miscellany - about next season.
Heard at the shows
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir? at Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche; Jimi Hendrix's The Star Spangled Banner at Undercover; Mini Riperton's Loving You at Lanvin; Courtney Love, Marianne Faithfull and house music at Christian Dior; disco at Martin Margiela's surprisingly light signature show; Donna Summer at Celine; Peaches at Loewe; Heart Of Glass by Blondie at Chanel; five different versions of Be My Sugar, Baby at Ann Demeulemeester; Massive Attack and banjo music at Alexander McQueen; Neneh Cherry at John Galliano; and Pump Up The Jam at Louis Vuitton.
You say goodbye ... and I say hello
A fond farewell to Martin Margiela who, after a six-year tenure at Hermes, will be replaced by Jean Paul Gaultier next spring. Pictured left is a white and red sweater from the Hermes collection. Making their debuts: Swede Lars Nilsson at Nina Ricci, the French house that has seen a revolving door of designers in the past few years; and Bruno Frisoni as design director at Roger Vivier.
Front row and centre
There was a surprisingly low celebrity count at the Paris shows this season, with Sir Paul McCartney (right) and pregnant wife Heather at Stella McCartney, Roman Polanski at Helmut Lang, Amelie star Audrey Tautou and Marianne Faithfull at Chanel, Faithfull and Isabelle Huppert at Dior, Tilda Swinton at Viktor & Rolf, Tracy Emin at Vivienne Westwood and local star Maggie Q. (left with Michael Kors) at Celine. Noted, however, was a trend for top models reversing roles by sitting front row while their peers walked the runway: Natalia Vodianova took in Lanvin, along with hubby and baby boy, after sitting alongside Kate Moss and Stella Tennant, who is reporting on Paris collections for American Vogue, at Chanel. Former Rudi Gernreich muse and 1960s supermodel, Peggy Moffitt, also made an appearance at Junya Watanabe and Comme des Garcons.