Sonia Rykiel

Le tout Paris was out in force for Sonia Rykiel's 40th anniversary celebrations, held at La Balustrade, Saint-Cloud on the outskirts of Paris. This wasn't a fashion show as such, but a retrospective highlighting pieces that make up her aesthetic. For those who need reminding, that's largely a Parisienne stereotype comprising berets, stripes, flirty skirts and a dose of goofy, Amelie charm.

And so ruffle/sequin overload appeared on sweater dresses alongside trompe l'oeil detailing, mannish-cut trousers, bowling caps and ethereal gowns trimmed with marabou and feathers - utterly perfect for a modern day Marie-Antoinette.

Everyone was ostensibly here to celebrate this artist's career, and the tributes from 40 designers, each interpreting Rykiel's signature, were touching. Karl Lagerfeld and Michael Kors took inspiration from her lessons in nautical tailoring, but the wittiest came from the surrealist Jean Charles de Castelbajac, who superimposed her photo and a fake copper wig (to depict the redhead's distinctive hairstyle) on to a dress. Jean Paul Gaultier's model wore the label's stripes and was seen yakking away on a sequin telephone that trailed behind on a mobile platform. CA

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Multimedia

• Pictures: Christian Dior at Paris Fashion Week

• Pictures: Vivienne Westwood at Paris Fashion Week

• Pictures: Jean-Paul Gaultier at Paris Fashion Week

Multimedia

• Pictures: Christian Lacroix, Givenchy and Sonia Rykiel

• Pictures: Stella McCartney

• Pictures: Karl Lagerfeld at Paris Fashion Week

Stella McCartney

What did the bold, Fuzzy Felt backdrop of cartoonish shapes created by Jake and Dinos Chapman have to do with McCartney's double-breasted tailoring? Sadly, its colours fizzed rather more brightly than many of the clothes.

Oversize and slouchy was the message here, an aesthetic that McCartney can produce with her eyes shut. And that was sometimes the problem. The pale flesh shades or touches of shell pink were hardly earth-shattering, and haven't we seen those trouser suits before?

The classic wardrobe staples were all present and correct, but this was an unashamedly conservative collection from a woman who usually relishes the challenge of giving us volume in unexpected places, or shoes we might not know how to walk in. Often this felt like a rehash of her greatest hits. The few exploratory details (sheerer panels that sexily revealed the body; the embellished, gladiator shift) felt timid.

More inspiring were the graphic cocktail dresses with their stiff pleats. Worn under a chucked-on jacket, they balanced that masculine-feminine juggling act to perfection. CA

Givenchy

Good news for anyone who misses power dressing. Once again, the creative director Riccardo Tisci showed lean, mean fighting machines: well, how else are you going to show off the results of the personal trainer?

Tisci has found his voice and stuck to it. (His goth silhouette was probably the most easily identifiable among the Rykiel tributes.) So cue more of his reptilian armour, this season fashioned with cut-away breast plates and contrast panelling, or the return of zip-up shoe boots with lethal-looking metal points.

In the current fashion context of computer-generated floral prints and bright colour blocks, his flesh-hugging hipsters and corseted jackets could sometimes feel aggressive. But there was plenty to soften the toughness: chartreuse and cappuccino chiffon trims, oversized jewels embellishing many of his shift dresses, jackets and draped tops.

Layering was also key: neon sheaths were worn under sculpted dresses with sheer panels, while different fabrics were juxtaposed, such as denim with leather on motorcycle trousers. A strong, confident designer who sticks to his beliefs no matter what fashion throws his way. CA

Hussein Chalayan

As hard-to-grapple-with-ideas go, this was a pretty tame affair from the man who has been known to transform wooden tables into dresses.

True, the revolving circular stage didn't make for the steadiest catwalk, and a glass pane revealed a phantom-esque bar with wine glasses that were smashed to pieces at the end of the show. For once, though, it was easy to concentrate on Chalayan's clothes, most of which celebrated feminine curves: slim-fit dresses that pushed up breasts and cinched in waists.

It certainly makes a change from the way some designers have explored volume this season, obviating the need to figure out which part of your body you wish to hide when getting dressed in the morning. If there's a style that will one day come to define this decade, surely it is corseted, almost sculptural outfits made from structured folds or manipulated across the body to form stiffened peaks.

In Chalayan's capable hands, trouser suits and dresses featured Milky Way prints or photographic images. Some of the skirts were embellished with shards of glass. An arresting finale of dresses illustrating this almost architectural direction proved a fitting conclusion. CA

Viktor & Rolf

Is this the future of fashion shows? In their tradition of experimentation, at 10am yesterday Paris time, Viktor & Rolf took the internet into their own hands, broadcasting a ten-minute film starring Shalom Harlow, the feline-eyed model from the Nineties.

With the intimacy of cinema and high definition of a computer screen, the designers largely eschewed the fussy surface embellishment that has threatened to drown recent collections and focused on their old favourite: construction.

That meant butterfly-cut tops with winged sleeves; a multihooped dress that both cupped and flared away from the body; two slices of stiff, pleated silk that encased Harlow in the middle, like millefeuille wrapping crème Anglaise; and optical art prints on miniskirts, tunic tops and tights. Like many other designers, Viktor & Rolf have opted for short lengths, but plenty of coverage.

Best of all? You can see every detail, from the platform shoes to the tips of those vast, Maharaja-era earrings. I viewed it and wrote my report from bed. Purely in the tradition of experimentation. LA

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