Designers offer red-carpet glamour in Paris couture shows

Celebrities descended on Paris Wednesday for the start of the haute couture collections, with fashion houses Christian Dior, Valentino and Giorgio Armani offering their take on red-carpet glamour with precious handmade creations.

Photo: Designers offer red-carpet glamour in Paris couture shows

Dior designer John Galliano thrilled a young Hollywood crowd led by Drew Barrymore, Liv Tyler and Mischa Barton with his spectacular show inspired by Renaissance artists, which unfolded on a castle garden set.

See-through gowns set off by gleaming chunks of armor opened Galliano's finest show in years. Trains that billowed like clouds, honeycomb skirts like hedges and Shakespearean doublets created a costume drama fit for a princess.

"I thought it was fabulous and amazing and it was so exciting and I loved it!" an ebullient Tyler told The Associated Press after the show.

Galliano said he had been inspired by a recent late-night viewing of French director Marcel Carne's 1942 film "Les Visiteurs du Soir" ("The Devil's Envoys"), a fantasy tale set in the 15th century.

"Seen through the eyes of someone from a different culture, a different time, almost a different world, the landscapes and people of the High Renaissance seem curiously otherworldy," the British designer said in a statement handed out to guests.

"The mixed emotions aroused by the film brought to mind the surrealism of Salvador Dali, the religious fervor of Joan of Arc, the anarchic energy of punk rock and the iconic glamour of the golden age of Hollywood, experienced by a stranger in a strange land."

To emphasize his point, Galliano took his bow in an astronaut's suit, reports AP.