Meanwhile, Chanel was basking in a luminous pastel glow during its debut of its spring-summer 2010 Haute Couture Fashion Collection in the French capital.

Models in buttery yellow culotte suits, fancy plissed baby blue silk tank dresses, and frothy pink gowns minced down the catwalk on boots with silver rococo heels and pearl-studded soles.

Some of the looks had a dreamlike quality. An off-the-shoulder bubble dress, awash in tiny silk ruffles, evoked sea foam or a puffy cloud. The wedding dresses -- which traditionally close haute couture displays -- had silver sequin-covered sleeves and a marshmallow pink fluffy train. Little blobs of silver, resembling liquid mercury, dotted the seams of the peaked-shouldered jackets, which were paired with high-waisted culottes.