Tonight:
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FORGET hemlines and lipstick sales: the most reliable indicator of the economy is the celebrity front row.
At Paris couture week, the downturn in famous faces is a perfect reflection of the downturn in general.
The Christian Dior show only managed to pull in Kanye West, Dita Von Teese and Mischa Barton, while at Giorgio Armani Privé, guests had to content themselves with Glenn Close, Lady Helen Taylor and an actress from some obscure Italian soap opera. While this isn't an ideal state of affairs for brands hoping to score some much-needed publicity from carefully assembled A-list stars, it is par for the course in January, when pop stars can't be bothered and most serious actresses are too busy polishing up their Academy Awards acceptance speeches to travel to Paris.
Come Oscars night on 22 February if none of the world's leading ladies is wearing Armani Privé it certainly won't be for want of trying. For if ever there was a set of gowns destined to dazzle on the red carpet, this was it.
It being Chinese new year, Armani decided to bring a flavour of the Orient to Paris, evident in everything from the fastenless jackets with their simple Mao collars for day, to the skin-tight sheath dresses with their lotus blossom prints for evening.
He stuck mercilessly to a body-hugging silhouette, with skirts pencil-slim and jackets fitted to the body and with narrow shoulders. The only flourishes of volume came from the peplum waists and fishtail frills, the latter being all that stopped the models from hobbling down the catwalk at a geisha's pace.
Their hair swept back from their faces and their bodies lightly dusted in white powder, each was made up in a way that contrived to have them look strangely homogeneous. Standouts from the evening section included a slim black macramé lace gown with a black patent leather bodice and a skirt picked out in lacquered sequins, and a metallic column dress covered in silver and gold beading.
A red, one-shouldered gown with what Armani called "pagoda style" skirts was also stunning.
One trend thrown up so far in Paris is the sculptured heel, a mainstay of the Armani and Christian Dior shows. In black lacquered curlicues at Armani, they added a new dimension to the standard three-inch heel, and are sure to prove a challenge for the chaps at Timpson.
