FRANCE: Closing of Paris Fashion Week with Louis Vuitton Show Summer 2009

The house of Louis Vuitton , with Marc Jacobs as Artistic Director, closed fashion week in Paris with its Spring Summer 2009 collection in the historic "Cour Carree" of the Louvre.

There was no escaping it. These were the shortest skirts ever seen on the catwalks of Paris, fashion capital of the world.

The next step would be to wear no skirt at all; which was almost what some of the models seemed to be wearing in the Louis Vuitton spring/summer 2009 collection, designed by the star of American fashion, Marc Jacobs, on the final day of Paris Fashion Week, today.

“There’s next-to-nothing, there’s almost-nothing, then there’s less-than-nothing,” was how Jacobs described his tiny scraps of fabric masquerading as skirts, many of which featured a see-through panel at the rear.

“It’s all about my love affair with Paris,” he said of this wham-bam of a show which embraced the style of the city’s emblematic icons, from Edith Piaf and Josephine Baker to the showgirls of Pigalle, the “belles du jour” and the bourgeoisie.

It received rapturous applause from a 1,000-strong audience, who might have been expected to be jaded by a relentless four weeks of ogling the catwalks, after the New York, London and Milan.

To a Piaf soundtrack, the models trotted out in super-embellished, high-heeled, platform shoes, awash with beading, brooches, fringing, feathers, jewels, leopard-print straps and swinging tassels – which nearly lassoed one of the girl’s ankles.

Decoration – in the sense of embellishing the feminine form – was the leitmotif of the show.

Military spencer-jackets featured inserts of coloured snakeskin and leather and were worn with ostrich feather micro-skirts in lime, pink and orange. Tunics and dresses were sashed with multi-coloured “obi” belts.

Shorts and sleeves were sequined; waistcoats embroidered with chequerboard patterns; necks, cleavage and wrists were loaded with jewelled chokers, pendants and cuffs; and those tiny excuses for a skirt were in a patchwork of dotted tulle, metallic lame and lace.

For those who don’t fancy revealing their “derrière” to all and sundry, Jacobs offered high-waisted, Parisian-style polka-dot trousers and “elephant pants” in dark denim.

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