Paris Fashion Week: Dries Van Noten wears his art on his sleeve

Elegant and ladylike bias-cut silk dresses clung to the body beautifully, enlivened by optical stripe patterns and dahlia-like foliate prints

Flower power: Dries Van Noten’s collection dazzled spectators in Paris (AP)

Dries Van Noten has much to celebrate this season – a retrospective of the Belgian designer opens on Thursday evening in Paris, where his designs will be displayed alongside works by the artists who have inspired him, including Rothko and Damien Hirst.

It was preceded by a masterful collection, offering a fresh interpretation of the designer’s recurring spheres of influence. Elegant and ladylike bias-cut silk dresses clung to the body beautifully, enlivened by optical stripe patterns and dahlia-like foliate prints. Shades of orange, blue and green were brought further to life by the use of glittering lamé, while 3D flowers bloomed over shoulders.

A masculine balance came courtesy of cropped wide-leg trousers and an orange bomber jacket bisected with black-rimmed zips.

At Rochas, new designer Alessandro Dell’Acqua stuck to the romantic silhouette favoured by his predecessor Marco Zanini, but a sharply subversive twist added a sense of tension. Feminine full-skirted looks in brushed wool, patent leather and hand-painted devore velvet were given a fetishistic perspective thanks to the addition of Marigold gloves in bright leathers, sometimes embellished with sharp spiked beads.

Gareth Pugh played with texture, too, using a voluminous mille-feuille like crumpled tulle in blinding white to add a softness to his collection.