This season, irreverent Slimane twinned the sacred Yves Saint Laurent tuxedo – the one that broke-boundaries in fashion and changed gender stereotypes forever – with plain old, rubber boots. The type festival-goers wear at Rock en Seine and Glastonbury.

Sitting in the front row was French film icon and former Yves Saint-Laurent muse Catherine Deneuve, who applauded Slimane’s creative vision.

“People like him make others around him move,” Deneuve enthused. “He does radical things that are really interesting.”

The collection was Slimane’s most exhaustive to date – taking in the glamorous ’90s split-leg dress, his signature penchant for the snake and leopard print of the ‘70s and ‘80s, with a fabulous ostrich wrap.

Stella McCartney’s kinesis

The sought-after invite had “STELLA” emblazoned in shimmering gold on brass knuckles.

So when Stella McCartney’s collection exploded Monday morning with colour, stripes and movement, it came as no surprise.

Bold, masculine checks in fluid silhouettes opened – with a gentler feminine edge provided by subtle plays on transparencies.

Contrast colour pleated dresses swung by on models with exposed shoulders in bars of bright blue, spring green, chili red and pink.

The hemlines bounced elastically revealing flashes of leg, to a booming soundtrack with the refrain “Spandex” on repeat. It was a point not lost on chuckling fashionistas as the expensive silk gowns filed by inside Paris’s palatial Opera Garnier.