Romance and colour at Paris Fashion Week

Lanvin

Lanvin's menswear designer Lucas Ossendrijver was a mere spectator at the women's wear autumn-winter 2010-11 unveiling. Hanging out on the catwalk before the show, he spoke to tabloid! about the new Lanvin collection.

"Every piece is so easy to wear, the collection looks effortless and elegant," Ossendrijver said. "Basically, it's all about the cut. Certain pieces may look simple but they're actually very complicated."

The Dutch designer is a big fan of Alber Elbaz (Lanvin's women's wear designer) and counts it a privilege to work opposite such talent, "He [Elbaz] is a great designer, many pieces in the collection are entirely made up from just one piece of fabric."

It all comes down to the precision of the cut and the detail in the execution.

Ossendrijver, hard at work on Lanvin's menswear spring-summer 2011 collection, was not the only one excited to see the new Elbaz creations hit the runway. Among the front row celebrities were actor and musician Jared Leto, and American Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and Creative Director Grace Coddington.

Nina Ricci

Backstage at the Nina Ricci show, the atmosphere was slightly wired as make-up artist Pat McGrath ran a tight ship.

Once hair and make-up had transformed the models they simply hung out in white dressing gowns catching up with friends and acquaintances.

tabloid! spoke to one of the girls as she texted and played with her Blackberry. Even though Anna (above) had walked the runways at New York and Milan this season, she was just as excited about Paris. "I really enjoyed the Ralph Lauren show in New York, and Gucci in Milan was awesome. There was a lot more fur and leather on the runways this season than in previous autumn and winter collections," Anna said.

"I love Paris, it's my favourite city," she added, naming Balmain as her favourite French house.

A series of different ideas and inspirations collided on the Nina Ricci runway. The result: easy-to-wear, elegant and sophisticated pieces that culminate to form designer Peter Copping's opulent "Winter Garden".

Copping's silhouettes played with extremes of grandeur and earthiness: romanticism and reality. Unstitched long dresses featured lush corsages, jacquard fabrics were cut on the reverse side and the satin was intentionally creased. Waists were emphasised with sleek pencil skirts and volume was blown out of proportion with oversized coats.

Manish Arora

Arora: autumn-winter 2010-11 must show fur! Or not.

By a mile, Arora's show was the best show I've ever seen. What gave the new collection its impact was the fact that the Indian designer broke the mould and did it all his way.

Those in the know are well aware that Arora is synonymous with lights and colour. The fact that autumn and winter are darker and cooler months only acted as a catalyst to the already wild and wacky colour factory.

The first series of silhouettes looked like the models had just stepped out of a cartoon. Infectiously bonkers, the pieces were inspired by the '20s and '30s Art Deco era, but not the 1920s — it was more like the 2020s. Futuristic and innovative, the silhouettes featured dropped waists and fitted architectural shapes with detailed shoulder draping, below the knee dresses, tulip shape skirts, oversized jackets and jodhpurs.

The fabrics included silk, satin, crepe silk, net, taffeta and velvet.