Amid downpours and traffic snarls, Paris Fashion Week enjoyed a quartet of hyper distinctive shows on Saturday from an epic Alaïa, disquieting Maison Margiela, uber equestrian Hermès, and boudoir-driven Vivienne Westwood. 

Alaïa: Epic staging, energetic collection

Now that’s what we call smart synergy. Creative director Pieter Mulier took his latest show for the house of Alaïa to the Foundation Cartier – a fellow Richemont-owned brand – and the result was a show of pure beauty.

Staged on the ground floor of the Jean Nouvel-designed foundation, the entire floor was made of LED panels, allowing the cast to march on magnificent images of feminine beauty, with close-ups of faces the size of squash courts. A mirror ceiling meant the photography saturated the space, heightening a sense of drama.
 
“I wanted to create a cocoon of imagery,” smiled Mulier, as he was deluged with praise.

Riffing on the house’s DNA of sexy empowerment, the Belgian designer cut sleek cocktails in technical fibers, silk or ribbed knits with inserted transparent breastplates and diagonal fringes that were flawless. 
 
He cut strict lizard-skin cloaks and tunics, and draped with enormous skill — a series of V-shape skirts in layers and folds of cotton and silk jersey were stunning. As was a black leather perfecto with displaced shoulders that morphed into a grand gown. One suspected founder Azzedine would have loved that look. 
 

See fashion show

“Sexy, but always very simple and precise,” said Mulier, wearing a white sweatshirt and socks, old jeans and loafers, as he embraced his old boss Raf Simons in a huge hug at the finale.
 
He took plenty of risk, with hanging fringe pants worn with surgeon’s smocks. His cotton coats looked like conceptual fracks – short at the front, ankle grazing at the back. Though, Mulier could be occasionally guilty of over thinking with dresses that suddenly tied around the ankle, or jerseys that seemed to strap in models’ arms. Not exactly empowering, nor Alaïa.
 
But, overall, this was a memorable moment of mode. And a reminder that Richemont’s fashion division, once a problem child, is a happening center of excellence, and profits.
 

Maison Margiela: Silenced lambs, noisy kids

At his couture debut for Maison Margiela, Glenn Martens insisted on covering every models head a mask or hood. For his ready-to-wear debut for the house this season, Glenn stuck braces in each model’s mouth, so their teeth flared angrily – Silence of the Lambs-style.

See fashion show

In July, when masked ICE agents had just got into full swing cruelly rounding up allegedly illegal immigrants, to see masked models was at the very least disconcerting. Now, amid a brutal crackdown on free speech, watching a cast’s mouths forcibly kept open was bewilderingly heavy-handed. The point could have been made with just a few looks.
 
The discordant mood both leavened and highlighted by a live children’s orchestra. In full orchestral dress on an all-white stage, they played – in and out of tune – classic works like Bizet’s “Carmen”, Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” and Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”. 
 
A weird juxtaposition to the witness the Hannibal Lecter casting. That said, Martens produced a very good collection, at times a brilliant one, especially when it came to tailoring. 

See fashion show

Riffing on a novel concept, a splendid new tuxedo waistcoat, and cutting some great blazers and dusters with dropped waistlines. 
 
His lapel-free denim jackets and coolly twisted jeans with exposed drawstrings all looked great, as were similar versions in lived-in rawhide. And he had a very Margiela moment with some slip dresses finished with mock silver gaffer tape.
 
Glenn went into overdrive, as he “declined” an idea from his couture debut in July. A beautiful series of 16th-century floral prints seen in beguilingly punchy dresses and cocktails.  
 
Though, the salient memory of the show would have to be the models’ mouths.
 

Hermès: Determinedly equestrian

No designer stuck closer to a brand’s DNA this season than Nadège Vanhee, who played on equestrian motifs with every single look.

See fashion show

Chez Hermès, they often refer to the horse as their first client, and equine motifs informed each passage in this show, staged with consummate elegance inside the riding center of the Garde Républicaine. 
 
Her key fabric was the finest matelassé and quilted leather culled from horse blankets, used most notably in seductive tops, corsets and some superb wrap skirts. 
 
Rarely have we seen a more body-con collection from Hermès – from the waxed leather sheaths in black and beige, paired with riding boots, the models prowling about seductively. Guests sat on wooden blacks, as the cast dashed by on a runway speckled with seashells.
 

See fashion show

Nadège got her inspiration from a Camargue saddle and Provencal motifs rippled through many looks. At times a tad too literally, and provincially.
 
A punchy series of boleros and urban hacking jackets were all finished with silver steel clasps, horse-bits, mini stirrups and leather reins. Racy, as much as racing, were the words that came to mind watching this show giving its strict silhouettes and revealing flesh. And quite frankly, hotpants and Hermès were two words we never expected to write in the same sentence.
 
Nadège is a very talented designer who has created a great body of work with Hermès. But this season it looked like she was trying too hard to be cool. 
 

Vivienne Westwood: Boudoir and beautiful

Few British fashion houses are more loved in France than Vivienne Westwood, adored by the great public, respected by all designers, and celebrated on Saturday with an epic afternoon show. 

A collection unveiled inside France’s Holy of Holies, the Institut de France, where the country’s greatest writers, intellectuals and scientists are consecrated.
 
Since Vivienne’s passing, her successor and former husband Andreas Kronthaler has guided the house. And this was his greatest collection so far. Entitled “Boudoir”, it managed to blended lingerie, pajamas, pampering, voluptuousness and naughtiness in a great display.
 
Made in rich Italian jacquards and damasks, mixed up with curtain materials, the collection was often an explosion of color. Created superb gowns that managed to perfectly mix historicism with hipness.
 
In a co-ed show, guys strutted in micro togs, topped by shards of contrasting silk tops – leopard print, tie-dye and tartan. One disco dragoon wowed in a check three-piece suit were the pants were mini shorts and his feet shod in perforated pirate boots.

Both men and women wore sleek silk double-breasted suits, like the one in which Andreas took his bow. 
 
With Paris and Nicky Hilton sitting front row, Andreas delivered the coolest of finales: Heidi Klum, as an ironic take on her Victoria’s Secret era. Looking sensational as a Restoration-era femme fatale in crystal encrusted white leotard, garters and a cloud of taffeta.
 
Kronthaler garnering an immense burst of applause as he took his bow with Klum. Holding a five-foot-long bouquet of sunflowers, he then led the cast to posing together on the steps of the Institut, amid thunderous cheers.