Les Parisienne

Cool and sophisticated at the same time. Always electric. Take a moment and enjoy this video below of Garance Doré's video, Les Parisienne.

Marc Jacobs remains in LV and Hedi Slimane returns to YSL

Fashion updates in the French luxury brand empires

Louis Vuitton

It is set to be a big year for Louis Vuitton. A major exhibition opens on March 9 at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, called simply 'Louis Vuitton - Marc Jacobs', spread over two floors, each one devoted to the life and work of each man.

Jacobs also firmly laid to rest rumours that he was to move to Christian Dior to replace John Galliano. "It's a great honour to be considered, and Mr Arnault is a super intelligent man and a very smart man and it was certainly a very great honour for him to know that I was capable - and not only capable but that I am someone that he would have wanted for the job. But I am very happy to be here. There is so much more left to do and building Louis Vuitton into a fashion company is something nobody else can say they really started."

Yves Saint Laurent

The return of Slimane has been enthusiastically welcomed by an industry that reveres him as a cult figure. Slimane, 43, has been absent from fashion design since leaving Dior Homme in 2007, and has been pursuing a successful career as a photographer in the US.

Paul Deneve, the YSL chief executive, praised Slimane's "understanding of the spirit of Yves Saint Laurent" and said he looked forward to "a promising new chapter in the story of the maison". Francois-Henri Pinault, PPR chairman and CEO, said the "formidable potential" of YSL "will be successfully harnessed and revealed through the vision of Hedi Slimane".

Slimane's first designs for YSL will be seen when a "resort" collection is shown in June.

By: Tamsin Blanchard & Jess Cartney-Morley

Mode du jour - Power skirts trend at Paris fashion week

Dior Haute-Couture 2012 show 

Paris Fashion Week 

Salons Christian Dior in Paris, France

Talk of Paris fashion week - Power skirts

If catwalk front rows offer the most accurate long-range fashion forecasts, then the next few months will be about the power skirt. It can be any shape but to qualify as a power skirt it must distinguish itself by the fabric, a print or an embellishment.  At Dior, knee-length skirts were made from individual squares of ostrich skin stitched on to an organdy base, while at Armani, standout skirts came in shiny reptilian green.  For Kate Phelan, the creative director of Topshop, skirts aren't the new "It" bags, "they're the new trophy jacket. Whether embellished, sequinned or just plain colourful, the power skirt has replaced them."  View the gallery here.

Front row beauty - clean and simple

Paris Fashion Week for spring/summer kicked off with a bang, with big names like Versace and Dior showcasing their couture collections on the first day. Celebrity attendees at the Dior and Versace shows were so on-trend they almost looked strapped into a uniform. But one trend they were all sporting that played to their individuality was a clean, minimalist style in hair and makeup. Is this a new beauty trend for 2012?  What's not to love about this look - beauty, elegance and confidence.  Perfect for 2012 and Valentine's day.

By: Imogen Fox / Pascal Le Segretain