Afternoon:
15°c
Courtney Love is a big fan of Givenchy, which may or may not tell you all you need to know about the brand's DNA.
The singer, notable for her extremes of personality as for her music, acts as unofficial muse for designer Ricardo Tisci, whose ability to sell on the rock-chick look at hugely inflated prices has won him an army of fans in Paris and beyond.
You want drainpipe trousers, leather jackets and a corset topped with laced-up sleeves? Tisci is your man.
Was it hanging out with Love that resulted in the collection swinging so dramatically between light and dark?
The show started as an ode to inky blackness: black over black under black, with textures the only point of difference.
A wide gauge, fishnet body stocking was layered over a long, skinny, red tube dress with chains draped diagonally to conjure an effect of bondage.
All the dresses clung tight to the body, such as a rather terrifying - and certainly itchy- dress that seemed to be made of horsehair. Tufts of horsehair sprouted from the shoulders of a crocodile leather jacket or trimmed a vest top.
It was all very gothic and very dark - but Tisci has visited this ground before which is why the light section proved more interesting.
Black might sell in a recession, or so the wisdom goes, but there is nothing like white to lift the mood and whisper "optimism" gently in your ear.
This pale section looked angelic -deliberately so - with the artfully constructed tops, arms spliced open and bound up again in a crisscross of ribbons, appearing fresh and new.
Simple vest tops had shoulders that fanned out into a froth of tulle, while white mini dresses were embellished with a spattering of pink or blue crystals at the shoulders.
There were also elegant trouser suits in palest apricot decorated with fine feather capes and trims. With so many plumes and hairs on display, Givenchy's rock-chick fans cannot fail to be tickled pink. Or black. Or white.
