Guests in unwieldy heels navigated the cobbles to enter the historic École Militaire grounds, passing a giant, minimalist black “Givenchy” sign and guests imbibing ginger shots and detox tea. The purified vibe matched the pared-down white decor.

The collection itself was harder to pin down. It could be described as a tale of two Givenchys.

5 most dazzling Lunar New Year watches to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit

The second was a tale of being a tad busy: an aesthetic – inspired by an image of painter Lucien Freud throwing a coat over paint-spattered work boots – that dominated the 52-look show with its urban style, haphazard layering, jarring colours and intentionally mismatched garments.

The short burst of monochromatic suits beginning the show introduced a welcome new direction for the house under Williams’ tenure. It was a shame that this theme was not developed more as the display progressed.

The suits sported sharp lines, neatly pointed shoulders and nipped waists that turned the silhouette into an elongated hourglass. They were – the house said – “defiantly unhemmed at the seams”. Black gloves gave these looks a playful, sinister quality.

2. Bluemarble explores identities

How fashion and home brands are using surprising sustainable materials

His eye-popping display inside the American Cathedral was a typical melting pot of streetwear, tailoring and cross-cultural, country-hopping references.

Alvarez, who was born in New York and has Filipino, Spanish, French and Italian roots, uses his several identities as a style touchstone. The brand’s name itself is global, borrowed from an iconic photo of Earth taken in 1972 by the Apollo 17 crew.

Faded blue jeans and bright yellow loafers paid homage to that decade on January 18. A huggable grey marled knit featured the brand name emblazoned across it and led the way for myriad shaggy, multicolour retro looks that came across as part-Woodstock, part yeti.

But there were also clever moments, such as the mask motifs that appeared on slouchy jumpers and suggested questions about the nature of true identity.

3. Saint Laurent channels black

The house that redefined women’s fashion with menswear tuxedos in the 1960s lurched the opposite way this season.

Designer Anthony Vaccarello brought the dark, elongated silhouettes of Saint Laurent’s women’s wardrobe to a gender-fluid and aesthetically precise autumn men’s display.

Who is Bernard Arnault’s daughter Delphine, the new CEO of Dior?

Yet the 46-piece collection, while heavy on black, was sometimes light on new ideas.

Floor-sweeping Matrix-style leather coats, with Vaccarello’s signature exaggerated statement shoulders, found their place alongside slicked-back hair and sunglasses, but also tuxedo coats and necks tied in exuberant bows harking to the New Romantics era.

A glossy, black leather bow contrasting with a matt black wool coat was a typical style for the Belgian-born designer, but nonetheless one of the highlights of the show.

The front row was notable, and included French actress Beatrice Dalle, in an oversized tuxedo coat, peering out from under black shades.

4. LGN goes psycho

In line with tradition, up-and-coming French designer Louis Gabriel Nouchi based his collection around a book theme again.

5 red-hot luxury handbags for Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day

A white shirt look was accessorised with a killer’s sheeny black gloves, while one double-breasted wool jacket with full shoulders and an androgynous long full skirt evoking the 1980s was worn on a model with (fake) blood spatter on his face.

Draping – in torch-red fabric tightly rippling over the body – evoked the cellophane the killer Patrick Bateman wrapped his victims in.

Colours included blood red, white and black to evoke the office, as well as what the house called “city bank” blue.