PARIS: Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren were the toast of Paris as the two septuagenarian actresses modelled for L’Oreal. The cosmetics giant transformed the Champs-Elysees avenue into a dazzling open-air fashion runway for a one-off event on Sunday.
Other sought-after Hollywood actresses flew in to the French capital to see the collection marking a new chapter of a storied fashion house.
Designer Clare Waight Keller’s debut show for Givenchy was one of the hottest tickets at this month’s Paris Fashion Week. Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara and Julianne Moore were in the audience. The actresses marveled at the seductive monochrome and flashes of color, applauding from the front row.
Here are some highlights of Sunday’s spring-summer ready-to-wear collections.

Givenchy’s new chapter
In a season of debuts, Givenchy’s was surely the crowning show.
In a testament to its continuing prestige, the Parisian house was granted rare permission to hold its spring-summer show Sunday inside the secretive stone walls of the Palace of Justice, the former royal palace on the Seine River where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned before the guillotine. The palace’s grand stone steps were wrapped for the occasion in a regal wrought iron shell — with “GIVENCHY” glimmering in gold above a gate.
Inside, celebrities and fashion critics held court. Film maker Pedro Almodovor, whose white Givenchy shoes matched his bright white hair, chatted animatedly with Moore, who matched in a stylish white tuxedo. Blanchett and Mara, both dressed head to toe in black, applauded vigorously as the collection’s 68 pieces went by.
“I am very excited,” Mara said.
“It was extraordinary... The sleeves, and the fabrics, and the subtle use of color,” Blanchett said. “I am excited for women and I am really excited for Givenchy ... She is just taken it to a whole new level.”
Waight keller debut at Givenchy
In a hand-written note signed “Clare,” Givenchy’s new designer gave guests some hints at her styling.
“Seduction is key. The most seductive things are not seen, but merely imagined,” she wrote.
This subtle yet powerful mantra was used with grace by the British designer who created a collection of fluttery, sensual gowns that moved the once-dark, brooding house into distinctly more feminine terrain.
Black and white were the touchstones as the display began with a printed silk dress with frothy panels around the shoulder and the leg. A blurry three-leaf clover motif shifted sizes. The visual confusion captured perfectly this sense of seduction, as it did away with the body contours beneath and left the spectator guessing.
In another stylish printed gown, a shoulder was exposed with uneven segments of silk gently cascading down the body. In a midnight blue peaked shoulder coat, color was introduced with a sexy, sheer décolleté and a 70s jabot collar.
For men, a shimmering metallic tuxedo led the looks that signaled that Waight Keller aims to lead the house in a saleable, more classical direction.
L’oreal’s champs-Elysees fashion show
Tourists munching hamburgers on the first floor of the Champs-Elysees MacDonald’s could not believe their luck as they peered down with a perfect view of one of Paris Fashion Week’s most anticipated events.
L’Oreal had transformed the Champs-Elysees into a one-off outside runway — enlisting 18 fashion houses, as well as countless stars and models to showcase clothes, makeup and hair trends.
The beauty giant billed it as a “once-in-a-fashion lifetime celebration.”
“It is amazing,” purred model Irina Shayk backstage against the backdrop of the Arc de Triomphe.
Seventy looks from French design houses such as Balmain, Giambattista Valli and Isabel Marant were showcased to thumping music and cheered on by a VIP audience including supermodel Naomi Campbell.
But the biggest stars, for once, were on the runway.
Jane Fonda, 79, provoked screams from onlookers as she became the oldest model to walk the runway this Paris season — blowing out air-kisses in a figure-hugging bronze zebra dress and stopping at one point to hug Campbell in the audience.
“Well, it was exciting. It is hard to believe I just did that on the Champs Elysees,” Fonda said after her turn as a model. “I liked it very much. I did not fall over.”
Helen Mirren, 72, also garnered excitement, walking down with bright red lips in a tailored royal blue coat and a cane that she theatrically waved.
Celebrating diversity and “beauty for everyone,” was the mantra of the luxury show that also featured normal-sized models.