To watch the Chanel show at Paris fashion week yesterday was to observe a designer at the top of his game. After 25 years at the label Karl Lagerfeld has become dazzlingly good at endlessly reinventing whilst simultaneously reinforcing the brand.
The show was a gentle riff on the status of Chanel's most recognisable looks: the jacket, the pearls, the pump. Lagerfeld built a giant, chic version of a classic fairground carousel as the centrepiece for his catwalk, including pearls for guardrails, and an enormous bottle of No 5 gliding up and down a pole.
Finally, amid the gothic doom that has dominated the week, someone in Paris remembered that fashion is supposed to be fun. Next season's standout accessory was a two-tone Mary Jane pump, in white or beige with a black or navy patent toe: Lagerfeld, like Coco herself, prefers chic neutrals to bright colours. There was a noticeable absence of new bags, but when the trendsetters are still carrying the bag designed in 1955 perhaps there is no need to bother.
Alexander McQueen, for so long the enfant terrible of fashion, yesterday completed his evolution into a serious player in the industry with the announcement that his company has turned a profit for the first time.
