Hats and shiny leather come back in style

Chloe dusted off a brown patent 1970s mini dress. [Photo/AFP]

That is how Guy Laroche's Adam Andrascik described the return to more tightfitting clothes that follow and flatter the lines of women's bodies.

Vaccarello laid sexiness on with a shovel at the Saint Laurent show－fittingly held on a building site－skirting very close to the fine line between audacity and vulgarity.

And Rochas designer Alessandro Dell'Acqua talked about "finding the erotic" in classic aristocrat style, with bows aplenty to point up the sexual tension that simmered beneath the surface.

Even streetwear-inspired labels like Off-White, which had toyed with the unisex androgynous look, cut its collection close to the body to emphasis the feminine.