Paris Haute Couture week draws Kevin Costner, Princess Charlene
PARIS --Planes couldn’t land, cars couldn’t move and pedestrians had to slosh their way through slush, but not everyone minded the snow in Paris for the start of haute couture week on Sunday.
At Atelier Versace, Kevin Costner said, “It’s given Paris a wonderful look – it’s like a winter wonderland.” There to film “Three Days to Kill,” Costner said when the invitation to Versace’s spring/summer collection arrived, going to the show seemed like a good idea.
“I like to see what’s going on in the city,” Costner said. Besides that, he said his wife, Christine, wanted to go. “I’m missing a football game for this,” he added. His mother-in-law, Judy Hardy, came along, too.
An eclectic front row, as happens often at haute couture shows, the night’s lineup also included Olivia Munn of “The Newsroom,” Melissa George of “Hunted,” Princess Charlene of Monaco and recording artist Ne-Yo.
Dressed in Versace, Munn said she was checking out the show for the post-Oscars Vanity Fair party.
Backstage following the finale, George said she was “crazy in love” with the fashions, noting one gold cocktail look in particular, as well as the craftsmanship on a fur-trimmed dress.
Given the 24-karat gold pinstripes, fur trims, three-dimensional crystal embellishments and eye-popping oversize fluorescent piping, it was certainly a rich collection.
Donatella Versace said she had been inspired by the night’s venue, Le Centorial, an elaborate 19th century building with a circular stair substituting for a catwalk and a dome designed by the workshop of Gustav Eiffel, who created the Eiffel Tower. According to the program notes, inspiration came from “the architectural splendor of the glass domes, where the fragility of glass contrasts with the strength of iron and steel beams.”
So we asked Versace about the building, when not in use as a backdrop for haute couture. “It’s a bank,” said the designer with a laugh.
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