As Paris Fashion Week wound down today, the heavens opened in time for the Elie Saab show at 4.30pm, as tradition now dictates. It happens every season.
And as also happens every season, Saab put out a collection of impeccable glamour and glitz, with enough red-carpet-friendly gowns in sparkling embellished lace to keep his blingiest clients happy. He has, though, over a few seasons, been working on the daywear elements of his line, and this time the tailored trouser-suits – long, long slightly flared trousers with a knife-sharp crease, and lovely peplum jackets or silk shirts – followed by dresses with flattering striping and panelling that emphasised tiny waists and curved hips, were if anything more successful than the eveningwear.
As is his wont, he divided the show into colour segments – rich blue, coral, pink, jade green – but rather than ending with a spectacular long gown, the final exit was a sweet white minidress in lace, banded with horizontal stripes.
Saab put out a collection of impeccable glamour and glitz. Francois Guillot / AFP Photo
Earlier in the day, the Louis Vuitton show had also run true to form, with doors shutting promptly at 10am, leaving stranded those who had counted on the standard half-hour delay. The creative director Marc Jacobs has, like Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, gained a reputation for putting on a spectacular mise-en-scène – garnering excitement that has even been known to obscure the actual clothes.
This time, though, the two worked in perfect harmony: at the end of a catwalk a set of four escalators was backed by a shimmering mirrored wall that looked like the entry point to some kind of Stargate-style other dimension. The models glided down in perfect twos, wearing checkered dresses, tunics and suits based on the house’s Damier pattern, but executed in the tiniest sequins of acid yellow and white, black and white and nude and white, creating an almost liquid gloss on the clothes.
At the end of a catwalk a set of three escalators was backed by a shimmering mirrored wall that looked like the entry point to some kind of Stargate-style other dimension. Martin Bureau / AFP Photo
The catwalk was in yellow-and-white check too, and an uplifting, brittle soundtrack from the minimalist composer Philip Glass made it an extraordinarily pleasing show. The silhouettes were straight-up-and-down sixties-style – below-the-knee pencil skirts, long-sleeved long dresses: if André Courrèges had designed Powell and Pressburger's movie masterpiece A Matter of Life And Death, this otherworldly performance might have been the result.
After the sparkling clean show, the customary fashion garb of black and grey looked somehow a bit grubby and lacklustre. And then it started to rain, and we were reminded that it is still autumn in Paris.
For more information you can visit Mode à Paris
More from Paris Fashion Week
Day one: moody romanticism from Van Noten and Rochas Day two: Arora, Copping, Lanvin – a season to be contrary Day three: grown-up glamour at Dior, Anne-Valérie Hash, Roland Mouret – and rainbows at Issey Miyake In pictures: Backstage at Viktor & Rolf Day four-five: Power play at Jean Paul Gaultier, Loewe and Andrew Gn Day six: graphic Hermès, glamorous Giambattista Valli and the black and blues at Saint Laurent Day seven: clean energy charms for Chanel Picture special: Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Dior seen, and re-seen
The National’s fashion correspondent Gemma Champ will be writing every day from Paris Fashion Week. She has previously blogged from London Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week.
