PFW takes to the catwalks

Flamboyant designer Jean Paul Gaultier's last ready-to-wear show will provide an emotional highlight of nine days of fashion collections due to get underway in Paris on Tuesday.
The 62-year-old showman of the catwalks is to bow out of ready-to-wear after nearly

 40 years to concentrate on his couture collections. The designer has said the decision was taken after an "in-depth assessment" of his eponymous fashion house's future with Spanish fragrance and fashion group Puig, which has a majority stake.

Gaultier's last show, which will be held on Saturday, is one of over 90 scheduled for the next week-and-a-half. After New York, London and Milan, other highlights will be first collections by Georgia's David Koma for Mugler and France's Julie de Libran for Sonia Rykiel.

Industry prepares for fashion week in Paris

Three names also making their debut in the Paris ready-to wear calendar are Japan's Anrealage, the US's Hood by Air and India's Rahul Mishra. Stephane Wargnier, new executive president of the French Federation of Couture, said Gaultier's last show was likely to be spectacular and upbeat, albeit tinged with sadness.