British day at Paris

 PARIS: Stella McCartney led a very British day at Paris fashion week on Monday, sending out a chic and casual fall-winter collection to an energetic hip-hop soundtrack.

Her compatriot Giles Deacon at Emmanuel Ungaro veered towards a more severe dominatrix look driven by the late Ungaro's famous statement that he dressed mistresses, not wives.

Later in the day, Hannah MacGibbon at Chloe widened her colour palette for a dynamic collection with varying shades of green, yellow and -- a popular colour for the season -- bordeaux red.

McCartney designs for active women who prefer effortless elegance, and she delivered on Monday with structured yet fluid pleated ensembles in black or astro blue.

With her rock-star dad Paul McCartney and actor Liv Tyler in the front row, the designer also sent out an elongated bomber jacket with woolen sleeves and, in knitwear, an ankle-length turtleneck sweater dress in black.

Several of the looks included flat masculine loafers.

For the evening, McCartney proposed layered separates with polka dots in varying sizes for graphic effect, and sophisticated figure-hugging dresses with high collars and sheer inserts along the sides.

The 39-year-old designer dedicated her show "to all my babies, husband, family and team," and took her bow in simple jeans and blazer to the tune of the Beatles' "For No One" before vanishing backstage to find her youngsters.

At Ungaro, Deacon -- an alumni like McCartney of London's Central Saint Martins art and design school -- went in search of a woman's inner sexuality in what he described as a "fetishistic" collection.

"There is that certain mythology of Paris," he wrote in the show's programme. "There is that idea of the city of love -- but really it is the city of lust."

With necks enveloped in high leather collars, Deacon put his models in gothic-embroidered leather sheath dresses and bustiers, green fur jackets and no-nonsense A-line miniskirts with external pockets.

Extended finger nails in blazing red underscored the idea that the Ungaro woman is the one who calls the shots.

Paris fashion week goes into its penultimate day on Tuesday with Chanel, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Valentino and Alexander McQueen.