Fonda, Mirren make star turns as fashion models for L’Oreal
PARIS » Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren were the toast of Paris as the two septuagenarian actresses modelled for L’Oreal. The cosmetics giant transformed the Champs-Elysees avenue into a dazzling open-air fashion runway for a one-off event on Sunday.
Other sought-after Hollywood actresses flew in to the French capital to see the collection marking a new chapter of a storied fashion house.
Designer Clare Waight Keller’s debut show for Givenchy was one of the hottest tickets at this month’s Paris Fashion Week. Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara and Julianne Moore were in the audience. The actresses marveled at the seductive monochrome and flashes of color, applauding from the front row.
Here are some highlights of Sunday’s spring-summer readyto-wear collections. GIVENCHY’S NEW CHAPTER In a season of debuts, Givenchy’s was surely the crowning show.
In a testament to its continuing prestige, the Parisian house was granted rare permission to hold its spring-summer show Sunday inside the secretive stone walls of the Palace of Justice, the former royal palace on the Seine River where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned before the guillotine.
The palace’s grand stone steps were wrapped for the occasion in a regal wrought iron shell — with “GIVENCHY” glimmering in gold above a gate.
Inside, celebrities and fashion critics held court. Film maker Pedro Almodovor, whose white Givenchy shoes matched his bright white hair, chatted animatedly with Moore, who matched in a stylish white tuxedo. Blanchett and Mara, both dressed head to toe in black, applauded vigorously as the collection’s 68 pieces went by. “I’m very excited,” Mara said. “It was extraordinary... The sleeves, and the fabrics, and the subtle use of color,” Blanchett said. “I’m excited for women and I’m really excited for Givenchy ... She’s just taken it to a whole new level.”
WAIGHT KELLER DEBUT AT GIVENCHY
In a handwritten note signed “Clare,” Givenchy’s new designer gave guests some hints at her styling.
“Seduction is key. The most seductive things are not seen, but merely imagined,” she wrote.
This subtle yet powerful mantra was used with grace by the British designer who created a collection of fluttery, sensual gowns that moved the once-dark, brooding house into distinctly more feminine terrain.