Dior and warrior queen Vivienne set Paris alight with vibrant hues

26 FEBRUARY 2008
With the models' bouffant hairstyles and equally exaggerated eye make-up there was no doubting where John Galliano had found inspiration for his latest collection for Christian Dior - the Sixties.

Actresses Lucy Liu and Monica Cruz were among the Paris Fashion Week set treated to a colourful ride down memory lane as the label's creative director sent out boxy jackets with A-line skirts a la Jackie Kennedy in juicy combinations of lilac and lime, fuchsia and tangerine. And for evening there were feather-trimmed shifts in pink and orange, and a range of ball gowns in a riot of rich hues.

"It was a time of optimism and bright colours," says the Brit designer of the era which inspired his autumn/winter line for the French fashion house. "It seemed to me it is what's needed right now."

Another of Britain's most admired design talents had also turned to a vibrant palette. Vivienne Westwood enlisted the help of seven- and eight-year-old students from the Portland School in Nottingham to hand-paint much of her new collection. An ardent campaigner on global warming issues, she asked them to imagine soldiers who had been fighting in the jungle but when the war was over had so fallen in love with nature that they decided not to go back to the city.

The resulting eco-warrior look included tartan capes for camouflage and tattered army uniforms customised with painted butterflies, snakes and flowers in primary colours. Models' faces were also painted in red and yellow tribal-style make-up.