Louis Vuitton takes Paris fashion week to end-phase

Louis Vuitton's 2007 spring-summer collection took Paris Fashion Week to its final phase on Sunday after eight days of shows that left some observers wondering if business pressure had stifled the city's name for creativity.

Paris competes with London, Milan and New York in attracting fashion labels, but is known as the place where designers can best let their imagination go, even if it does not translate into company profits.

French luxury goods giant LVMH made waves last year when it sold loss-making French label Christian Lacroix to a privately held U.S. investment company, raising questions about whether Paris could maintain its reputation for creativity.

This season the designers seemed to have sales in mind with a focus on accessories that create healthy profit margins.

At Chanel models were draped with belts, bangles and bags, while Lacroix's show targeted a new younger clientele with skimpy swimsuits and short hemlines. Designer Karl Lagerfeld has even brought out a CD of his favorite music.

Nearly every model sent out by American designer Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton -- the jewel in the crown of LVMH -- was carrying a handbag, the label's best known product.

LVMH president Bernard Arnault, who this week unveiled plans for a futuristic museum in Paris to promote the heritage of his label and celebrate creativity, said designers should be both creative and commercial.

"That's what we're trying to do and when a collection works well, it's because it's creative," he told Reuters.

His company also owns the Celine and Givenchy labels that showed in Paris this week. Net profits rose to 817 million euros in the first six months of the year and sales of leather goods rose 46 percent in July and August.

Source: news.yahoo.com