October 8, 2001
BY HILARY ALEXANDER
PARIS --"Fashion liberates society; it is the most global means of self-expression in the world," said Didier Grumbach, president of the French Fashion Federation, as the Paris pret-a-porter season for Spring/Summer 2002 opened here Friday.
"Nothing in the world expresses freedom and self-expression better than fashion, which is why it is so important the catwalk shows happen and continue to happen," he said.
The opening weekend, featuring designers from Japan, Korea, Northern Ireland, Britain, Holland, France and the United States supported his argument for fashion as an international language. Among those with shows were Alexander McQueen, Christian Lacroix, Yohji Yamamoto and John Ribbe.
Friday's shows marked the beginning of a 150-show calendar in the French capital, which will operate under the tightest security since the 1995 bombings in Paris by suspected Muslim extremists.
This weekend, as the focus of the shows moves to fashion theaters in the Carrousel du Louvre, security will be high. "It will be like an airport, with extra police, metal detectors and security checks," said Grumbach. Visitors, including models, will need identity cards or passports.
In a sign of the impending recession, the avant-garde, New York-based designer Miguel Adrover has gone out of business.
Daily Telegraph