The slogan on the T-shirt worn by Vivienne Westwood read "I am not a terrorist", as the grand dame of British fashion flounced down the Louvre catwalk in stripes and silver stilettos followed by a merry band of models swathed in taffeta ballgowns in shades of mustard, slate and tobacco.
Her show, a predictably wild mix of ideas was called "Active Resistance to Propaganda" and opened with slogan prints of every kind fashioned in her characteristically irreverent way into otherwise demure knits, looped skirts and apron dresses.
Away from slogans, a grey and white shirtwaister dress was an abstract but recognisable version of a familiar classic, as were white kilts and draped Grecian-style tunics. Striped pirate pants with bucket pockets, a throwback to her famous l980s collection, were typically insouciant.
A lot of this is-well trodden territory, but there were some wonderful dresses - like a simple one in dusty pink silk with a thin brown leather belt and another in blue and white taffeta belted below the bodice and the derrière, like a Christmas cracker.
Westwood's Asian fan base was evident in the huge contingent of Japanese press and buyers at the show, while outside, young Japanese students pleaded for spare tickets. The 35-year retrospective of the designer held recently in London's Victoria & Albert Museum will transfer to Japan in November.
The interest was in the other direction at Comme des Garçons, where Rei Kawakubo had a highland fling with Scottish tartans and Union Jack prints accessorised with tilted neon-lit white crowns and block-toed ballet pumps.
All sorts of clan and regimental plaids were mixed with abandon in a froth of ruching, gathering, bagging and wrapping, criss-crossing the bodice tightly. Her shoulder bustles, more like flotation devices, stressed the exaggerated silhouette and Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory the inspiration, but Union Jack bodysuits are unlikely to be on Irish shopping lists.
The other Japanese to show yesterday was Naoki Takizawa (for Issey Miyake) who made the fringed shawl and the famous Miyake signature pleats the show's centrepieces. Models emerged silently from behind a thicket of bamboo canes, and although the references were delicate and subtle, he seemed to be marking time with this collection.
Cream fringing that fell from a skullcap right on to a long silk dress like tracing looked beautiful. The show lacked his customary light and sporty touches, though the finale, a bodice and skirt of stiff bamboo cane seemed to cage a freer spirit.
