Kim Kardashian hits Paris couture week

PARIS – Fashion personalities were on full display Tuesday in a high-octane day of haute couture shows in Paris.

Kim Kardashian nearly caused cars to crash when she arrived late to one show, while Chanel front man Karl Lagerfeld proved that he doesn’t just design couture dreams, he also speaks politics.

Here are some key moments:

KIM KARDASHIAN ATTENDS COUTURE

She’s been around Paris in recent days, snapped at Versailles Palace after dark with her partner rapper Kanye West. Now Kim Kardashian has hit Paris couture week, holding court in the front row of the Stephane Rolland show.

The reality star wore a flowing ivory cashmere couture coat and satin pearl-grey pants by the French designer and sported blond highlights.

Although she arrived without West, who was seen last week at Givenchy, and refused to speak to the press, her arrival triggered a media storm, with photographers pushing each other to get a clear shot.

CHANEL’S COUTURE SPORTS CLUB

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It was not your run-of-the-mill Paris sports club. It was Chanel haute couture.

At Karl Lagerfeld’s dazzling “Cambon Club” show, he boldly mixed the couture designs associated with Coco Chanel’s fashion empire at 31 rue Cambon, with a youthful sporty kick.

Princess pearl chiffon, satin silk, fastidious embroideries, sequins and sculpted corsets met with – gasp – sneakers , sporty white cropped boleros, fanny packs and silver knee pads. Models even ran down the steps that led onto a bright crystalline stage.

If the spring-summer show felt less vibrant than recent colorful Chanel displays, it was down to the more muted pearly and silver palette. But the detail of the clothes certainly packed a punch.

Tight corsets masterfully sculpted the midriff, which was also accented by wide truncated boleros.

Lagerfeld said he wanted the sneakers to “bring couture back to reality.”

LAGERFELD: HOLLANDE “CRUEL” FOR ALLEGED AFFAIR

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Lagerfeld often likes to pontificate on politics. On Tuesday he called French President Francois Hollande “cruel and heartless” over the allegations by a French magazine that Hollande had an affair with French actress Julie Gayet.

Hollande’s live-in partner and first lady, Valerie Trierweiler, was hospitalized for several days after the revelations due to stress.

“When we talk about violence against women, the way (Trierweiler) was treated I am very much against,” Lagerfeld told The Associated Press. “You cannot do that to a woman you’ve spent so many years with. This I think is cruel and heartless.”

Trierweiler, who attended Chanel’s last haute couture show in July, did not appear at Tuesday’s show.

Still, Lagerfeld said he liked Gayet, calling her “a nice person” with “a nice face.”

STEPHANE ROLLAND IN SEARCH OF SUNSHINE

Rolland’s spring-summer couture show went in search of sunshine.

The designer, whose signature style venerates the natural beauty of fabrics like fine silk gazars and organzas, channeled vivid cadmium and canary yellows in his show, set off by a dash of white and black.

But what defined this particular Rolland show was that it moved in a delicate direction, uncluttering the silhouette by doing away with the aggressive spiked appliques of previous seasons.

Sweeps of silk flowed away from the body, providing a beautiful architectural look. And the final bridal gown had a great, organic fabric flourish in the back that really it made it feel like couture week.

BOUCHRA JARRAR GOES FOR TEXTURE

Moroccan-born designer Bouchra Jarrar played with asymmetry and texture with varying success.

One cross grain-woven coat had appealing thick asymmetrical lapels that flapped in front. But metallic pants were an odd choice to pair with several textures and styles, like a black fur coat with big red lines on the side.

Still, the show featured some luxurious items like a long, plunging silk gown in royal blue.