Paris fashion: Stella Mccartney’s oversized abstractions

Stella McCartney channelled the unexpected.

In a highly imaginative show that was more daring than usual, the British-American designer on Monday took familiar garments and styles and gave them a funky and glamorous twist.

Huge truncated bubble jackets bounced by alongside enveloping turtle neck gowns and huge wrap around denim jackets.

The first look was among the best — a huge sleeveless bubble jacket in red velvet that oozed contradictory glamour.

Its stripy accordion pleats in the silk skirt riffed nicely on the model’s short hair — evoking the Roaring Twenties as immortalized by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby.

The opulence of the venue — the grand, gilded hall of the Paris Opera — only added to the glitz.

But this collection also boasted hidden gems — one delicate peach gown with lace, pleats and a sheer section which sensually showed off the leg.

Proud father Sir Paul McCartney cheered from the front row next to his wife Nancy Shevell, who wore embroidered Stella McCartney jeans with a ruffled cardigan and terracotta coat.

“Wasn’t it a stormer? Wasn’t it just great?” Paul asked after the finale as he made his way down the sweeping grand staircase. “Of course I love every show because Stella is my baby. But I feel like this collection was particularly witty and sexy.”

“And the closing song was pretty great, too, don’t you think?” he added with a wink.

The track in question was his 1974 hit with the band Wings, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five, which had many in the crowd whooping with delight — Jess Glynne, the flame-haired British pop singer, among them. She had arrived in Paris that morning after completing the United States and British legs of her tour.

“I met Stella at the Brit Awards last week, and we had such a laugh on the night that she invited me along to the show today,” said Glynne, who had five No. 1 singles in Britain last year and performed at the Coachella festival in California. “I thought she was the loveliest lady.”

“This is my first-ever show in Paris, so it feels incredibly exciting because the more my career develops, the more I’ve been thinking about the importance of fashion, of how I look as well as how I sing,” she said. “In this industry you need to develop your image like an armour, something protective and comfortable but also recognizable.”