Chanel sends out regal couture under towering lion

The sparkle, the lights and the glamour lots of glamour continued on the second day of Paris Haute Couture Week.

What sets the haute couture shows apart from the prêt-à-porter presentations is the front-row celebrity factor haute couture shows seem to attract more of them.

At the Chanel show were the likes of Prince, Vanessa Paradis and Milla Jovovich.

"I'm only going to the Chanel show this week. I had to come out and support Karl [Lagerfeld]," Jovovich told tabloid! before the show. "Of course I'm wearing Chanel, with jewellery by Laetitia Crahay [Chanel's prolific accessories designer]."

The American actress, singer and model is clearly not a stranger to the design world; "I've just finished designing a capsule collection for the Japanese brand ICB," she said.

The 34-year-old star said that she was all booked up for the rest of the year shooting a couple of films in Oklahoma and Berlin.

"I'll probably be at home in Los Angeles for about a total of two out of 52 weeks this year," she laughed.

A hop, a skip and a jump down to the Grand Palais in the heart of Paris and the excitement was almost impossible to contain. The unveiling of Chanel's autumn-winter 2010/11 haute couture collection attracted bloggers, journalists and celebrities to the large glass exhibition venue in droves.

With Karl Lagerfeld's muse poised on centrestage, the fashion pack gathered around the circular catwalk. The inspiration behind the autumn-winter collection is the king of the jungle, and in true Chanel fashion, a golden lion sculpture stood about seven metres tall under the glass and steel structural roof of the Grand Palace. Pressed under one of the mammal's paws was a large pearl.

The first silhouettes to grace the runway were a series of classic Chanel tweed skirt suits: it all started quite innocently.

Not to say that the silhouettes were devoid of the flair and eccentricities that we've come to love from the French fashion powerhouse, the collection featured plenty of wit and quirkiness. However, touches of the genius designer that is Lagerfeld were more evident as the show progressed. The dresses in the finale were exquisite, classic and yet contemporary, complete with copious amounts of sequins and Swarovski crystals, as is to be expected.

By the end of the show there was just about enough sparkle in the house to light up the entire Eiffel Tower.

Inspired by British sculptor Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate (also nicknamed The Bean due to its shape) Stéphane Rolland's next season's collection was a dark horse. The fruits of Kapoor's influence on Rolland's creativity were rich and bountiful. From one stunning gown to the next, it was apparent the French designer had been deeply moved by the dreamy cascading contours of clouds reflected around the smooth, undulating curves of a giant bean.

The colour palette included blue, black, tree-bark brown and ash grey. The dresses featured long zips down the front, generous draping around the neckline and clever origami detailing that dramatically swept down from small, fitted waistlines to abundant, overflowing hems.

The real beauty was the effortless fluidity and movement of the pieces. It felt like a lesson on the aerodynamics of haute couture — the many shapes and forms that organza lends itself to, and notably, the breathtaking effect it can have on an otherwise simple ball gown.

The detailing and the sheer craftsmanship of the silhouettes were impressive. As the models floated and fluttered down the marble runway the dresses just seemed to elegantly swoon around and about the accentuated curves of their stealth frames.

The dresses were pure poetry in motion. There were occasional outbreaks of impromptu applause as the awe-inspiring gowns graced the catwalk.

In the front row, French R&B singer Shy'm looked glorious in a stunning gold sequin dress.

She told tabloid! later that she absolutely loved the show, which was by far her favourite yet. "Next, I'm going to the Basil Soda show, and then back to work."

The gorgeous songstress is getting ready to launch her new album Prendre L'Air on July 14.

The autumn-winter 2010-11 haute couture show exuded easy elegance. The Armani Prive woman is understatedly refined with an appetite for the finer things in life. Slim clutch purses in exotic leather, sculpted wedges delicately embellished with stones, seamless tailored jackets and perfectly pleated dresses are just a few of the aspects that clients have come to love from the Italian fashion brand.

The silhouettes on the runway included minimalistic taupe capes, asymmetric nude shift dresses and wafer-thin cropped leather jackets with scalloped edges.

Silk crepe cropped wide-leg trousers were worn with fitted tweed jackets. Notably, the jacket shoulders were slightly arched, waists were cinched in often with thin belts or sparkly brooches. In the evening dress section, all the trademark touches of the maestro were present: uber feminine cuts, exquisite tailoring and second to none attention to detail.

Due to his consistency over the decades Armani has earned his rightful place as the bread and butter of Tinseltown. The legacy continues, without a doubt, I've got a feeling, come Oscar night next year, we'll be seeing these dresses again. One dress had amazing interplaying pleats on the bodice and skirt. Another bustier dress featured soft draping crossover on the neckline and embroidery on the side.

A straight long-sleeved dress with a plunging neckline in the back had intricate embroidery, amber coloured sequins and Swarovski crystals all over.