AP Photo/Jacques Brinon
It's not easy to create a sensation at Paris Fashion Week. The competition for attention is huge at the week-long round of ready-to-wear shows by the world's big design names. Here's a look at some scene stealers, for better and for worse. Here, a model poses against a giant poster of model Shalom Harlow, used as a backdrop at the Viktor and Rolf show on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Jacques Brinon
The scene-stealing started outside the Paris fashion shows, where activists of animal rights group PETA protested the use of fur in fashion on Oct. 2, 2007. The rabbit is holding a placard that reads "We are not coats."
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
Getty Images/Francois Guillot
Those protesters were just cute little bunny wabbits next to some of the models inside the shows -- and this was ready-to-wear, for Pete's sake, not the haute couture "I am an artiste" stuff where excess is the norm. Here, a model shows an outfit by Comme des Garcons during a Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear collection show in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
Getty Images/Francois Guillot
So much for glamour gigs. A model slinks past the front rows in a creation by Comme des Garcons during the label's Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear show in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
Getty Images/Francois Guillot
In another horror-movie moment, a model spooks the runway in the Comme des Garcons Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear show in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
Getty Images/Francois Guillot
Qu'est ce que c'est "yuck?" A model wears a livid color combination by Comme des Garcons during a Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear show in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
Getty Images/Francois Guillot
The ready-to-wear shows are supposed to offer a preview of what's to come in fashion in 2008. So, here's a hint from Dai Fujiwara for Issey Miyake. Look for bright colors in leisure wear, especially tights in cheery patterns and funky footwear. The Miyake label was shown in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Thibault Camus
Dai Fujiwara, of the Japanese label Issey Miyake, became the first fashion designer to draw design inspiration from a vacuum cleaner when he collaborated with James Dyson. The British inventor designed a set with big yellow tubes that created a whirlwind of gently wafting dresses and billowing coats at the Miyake ready-to-wear show on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Jacques Brinon
Among the annoying gimmicks at Paris Fashion Week was the use of cheesy little models of violins as accessories, like the one pinned to this model at the Viktor and Rolf show on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Jacques Brinon
Here's an outfit more likely to be seen on the racks at H&M, where Viktor & Rolf now sells some of its ready-to-wear. The casual black-and-white outfit was part of the design duo's Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear show on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
Getty Images/Pierre Verdy
A model wears a dress by Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf during the Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear collection show in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere
At many Paris fashion shows, you have to look beyond the wacky gimmicks to find the real fashions underneath. For instance, this model is wearing a really nice jacket under her wacky headgear by Japanese fashion designer Junya Watanabe, at the designer's Paris show on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Thibault Camus
Sometimes, however, the outfit is plain wacky from top to bottom. At left, a model wears a "Cat in a Hat" topper with a strange sack-like garment from Japanese designer Tao Kurihara's ready-to-wear collection, shown in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Jacques Brinon
This truly ready-to-wear dress was shown at Belgian fashion house AF Vandervorst's Spring-Summer 2008 show in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Jacques Brinon
A model wears a lavender dress from fashion house AF Vandervorst's Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear collection in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere
A model wears a silk print dress by Japanese fashion designer Tsumori Chisato during her Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear collection in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
Getty Images/Francois Guillot
A model wears a bright dress by Tsumori Chisato during the designer's Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear collection show in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Jacques Brinon
Ready-to-wear? We think not. A model encased in plastic appears on the runway for Belgium fashion designer An Vandervorst during his Spring-Summer 2008 show in Paris on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Jacques Brinon
No story about scene-stealing in Paris would be complete without a contribution from Jean-Paul Gaultier, the most flamboyant of the big names in Paris fashion design. At left, a Gaultier model appears on the runway during his Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear show on Oct. 2, 2007.
Fashionable Scene-Stealers And Pratfalls
AP Photo/Jacques Brinon
Ar, me hearties! Why not don a pirate look? It'll sure perk up the neighborhood party next spring! At left, a model appears on the runway during the Jean-Paul Gaultier Spring-Summer 2008 ready-to-wear show on Oct. 2, 2007 in Paris.
