2008 Fall Paris Fashion Week

The river runneth red at Giambattista Valli. Blood red. Billowing red evening gowns, protruding red crepe necklines, toweringly high red heels, and even a red fox fur cocoon coat were all flowing. When it wasn't red, it was white, or black, or ivory — with lots of protuberances. Tufts of fox fur hang from the back of an otherwise simple ivory sheath. Architectural ruffles, poufs, and anemone-like brooches embellish other notable pieces.

The collection as a whole was a play on volume; and when I say volume, I mean Giambattista really turned up the dial. There was nary a piece in sight without the addition of something bigger . . . but better? Well, I'll leave that verdict up to you.

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Folded arms are usually associated with nonchalance and/or moodiness.

While it was somewhat surprising at first glance, it's not entirely shocking that Karl Lagerfeld had the models for his Fall '08 collection walk down the runway with folded arms. It's ironic that the robot-like designer was the one to encourage human qualities in his models.

You will see cue cards backstage telling models to smile and have fun, but you rarely see them mentioning arm movements. It's about time they put those long limbs to use! Karl's girls — Anja Rubik (right), Natasha Poly, Isabeli Fontana, Raquel Zimmermann, Ali Stephens, and Karlie Kloss — all did just that and brought some real-life emotions to the otherwise stiff clothes. So is folding arms a new catwalking trend? I guess we'll have to wait and see . . .

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Paris Fashion Week rolls on and Karl Lagerfeld didn't go with understated to show off the new collection for Chanel — check out the big show here. Some of his favorite little celebrity munchkins were out to see the show, like the Olsens who wore those Willy Wonka sunglasses and got a big hug from Karl. Kanye's puffy vest and Alexis also came out for the show as did Rihanna fresh from her Ireland show. Leave it to Chanel to bring out the big names.

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The house of Chanel has gone back to its roots. The carousel-ignited runway was awash with varicolored tweeds, black, denim, chains, and knits — quintessential Chanel. And there were all shades and treatments of Karl's favorite color: black tweed, black leather, black knits, black stockings, black jeweled berets. But, Karl never lets black bore.

To shake things up — and to keep catering to the youthquake of Hollywood, including show attendees, the Olsens — minis were every which where. As well, a rubberized leather dress and Matisse-like patterned vinyl brought a bit of the '80s back to the Chanel runway. The finale dresses even showed some leg and texture, and had dramatic cascading capes. All, will keep the drama-hungry youth happy.

To see what's in store for Chanel this Fall and to see a video of the show, read more

Now that Valentino has officially stepped down, succeeding designer Alessandra Facchinetti made her catwalk debut for Fall.

Compared to the pale pastels, bright zings of color, and oodles of ruffles Valentino has infused into his designs the last couple of seasons, Alessandra's work lacked a little of the label's joie de vivre. It could be the more subdued, Fall-appropriate color palette of navy, neutrals, blush, and mustard giving off that impression, but the keen attention to detail wasn't there. It was definitely a safe first collection, but there were hints of good things to come — the requisite Va-Va red was in place. Besides, taking over a label after 45 years under the helm of one man is not a position I envy.

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Who says models are all beauty and no brains? Okay, I can't vouch for their brains, but I can prove that they have some mad skills. Wearing what looks like a suffocating bag around your face and having to walk down a long runway takes precision. Many models trip, even without such an obstacle, so I give the models who walked the Junya Watanabe Fall '08 show in Paris some respect. It looks like Paris and London, namely the shows of Watanabe, Maison Martin Margiela, Rick Owens, and Gareth Pugh, proved to be the most taxing for the models. Then again, signing on to work with such avant-garde designers, they probably expected a bit (okay, a lot) of craziness. Could you do it?

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