Paris : Tension Builds as Spring Shows Open in the Couture Capital

This is Day 1 of the French Spring Fashion Collections.

Designer Patrick Kelly, the American from Mississippi who always wears baggy denim overalls, kicks off the week of runway shows.

Then Comme des Garcons, Yohji Yamamoto, Thierry Mugler, Christian Lacroix and Karl Lagerfeld strut their stuff, followed by Jean Paul Gaultier, Claude Montana and Hubert de Givenchy (who’ll be in Los Angeles with Audrey Hepburn for I. Magnin on the 27th of this month.)

As the week progresses, the tension in Paris mounts.

For nine straight days of shows, (no time off on Saturday and Sunday), buyers and press will throng the chilly tents in the Louvre courtyard.

They’ll ignore the amazingly swan-necked models, the Spielbergian productions, the accidentally bared bosoms and high heels broken precariously in mid-strut.

They do not want to sit back, relax and watch a good performance. That means the clothes are boring.

It’s when retailers lean forward, squinting, with quickened breath, their cameras clicking or sketch pads in hand, that you know they’ve spotted an increasingly rare prey: clothes they think they can actually sell.

American buyers, especially, are on a high-stakes treasure hunt. They’ve already seen enough spring pants on Los Angeles, Milan and London runways to outfit the entire U.S. military.

They’ve already ordered pants for their stores, promoted them in their catalogues, and many female store executives now wear pants on a daily basis to help make this “new spring trend” come true.

But let’s face it, how many pairs of trousers is even the trendiest customer going to buy? And what on earth will she wear if pants just don’t happen to be her thing?

Paris appears to have the answer. At long last--skirts.

As these exclusive preview photos show, all Gaul has not deserted the traditional female garb.

Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel and for his own label, Sonia Rykiel, Marc Bohan for Dior and Emanuel Ungaro are designing skirts that are long and full as well as short and svelte.

Presumably, there will be lots of in-between lengths as well.

Hats and gloves are making comebacks, too--in continuing homage to the worldwide accessories craze.

This smorgasbord of wearable styles, the best of which will be reproduced in less expensive versions, could be an incentive for women who recently, and reluctantly, learned to “just say no” to new clothes when prices were too high or styles too outlandish.

Of course, the multiple skirt lengths offered on runways could cause confusion. Retailers are used to promoting one “look” for each season, and many have not yet figured out how to retain fashion “authority,” while offering their customers the best of all the different styles.

It’s not the consumer’s problem. For many seasons now, U.S. women have been expanding their wardrobes to include many lengths and many looks. They are already wearing short and long skirts and trousers suits.

And retailers must rush to catch up.

The week of shows winds down Oct. 27, after Sonia Rykiel, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent. And, after a spectacular, French fashion industry-backed AIDS benefit show on the final night.