Designers pump up the volume in Paris

Designers pump up the volume in Paris

Not in the sense, necessarily, of big news or even making a big noise but literally. Leave it to Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons to show every other designer how this might best be done. Her collection of "two dimensional" (flattened) and enormous clothes in uncompromising colours – blithe blues, pinks, reds, yellows and with Legoland bobbed hair to match – and printed with everything from leopard spots and faded cabbage roses set the tone for the season. The effect was brilliant. And gentle in intention too. In a world where over-exposure – and the over-exposure of women in particular and in predictably uncharitable a manner – is the story, anyone, big, small, short or tall could wear these clothes. The designer stated that it was their individual shape that would give body to the clothes. It's beautiful to be bold.

It seems not insignificant that Céline's Phoebe Philo appeared to be thinking along similar lines. Although hers was a more conventional working wardrobe, shapes were scaled up – broad-shouldered masculine coats and low-slung trousers with a wide, curved leg in particular – and flattened too, from the front or the side. This was a perfect, small and intimate presentation where every last detail had been studied to the nth degree, and purity – not to mention fashion envy – was the result.

Hussein Chalayan is a designer who has long demonstrated a profound respect for the woman who wears his clothes. For him too, enveloping the body as opposed to parading it, thus creating a private dialogue between wearer and clothes, is important. Roomy grey flannel coats were fused with neon techno-foam and loose-fitting column dresses made for the most modern statement in eveningwear that has been seen for some time.

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