Paris fashion shows have traditionally been slim pickings for farmers, but the drought ended yesterday as Karl Lagerfeld declared he had designed his latest collection for Chanel with agricultural workers in mind.

“I’m from the country, darling,” said the flamboyant designer, dressed in his customary black leather gloves and high-collared white shirt, standing beside a giant haystack set up for the show.

“I hear all this talk about organic farming and the environment and I’m all for it, but there must be a certain sophistication, so it’s not used as an excuse to let things go to seed.”

Perhaps as a reference to this agricultural theme, the fashion designer augmented his outfit with cowboy boots and jeans but was also wearing his usual sunglasses.

His designs may prove impractical for some farmers. Some may get away with his straw-coloured tweed skirt suit, but his high-heeled clogs and wide-skirted dungaree dresses may be an impediment in the milking parlour.

Models paraded around a wooden barn while guests, including Prince and Rihanna, watched from imitation hay bales. It ended with a roll in the hay as Baptiste, Lagerfeld’s favourite male model, fell into a stack to nuzzle female models. Lily Allen then came out of a trapdoor to sing a song about the sexual inadequacies of an ex-lover.

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