Security is being bolstered at the Paris fashion shows which opens on
Wednesday following the deadly Islamist attacks in the French capital and
European swoops on other suspected jihadists.
Celebrities and others attending the event were reported to be skittish
over security at the globally mediatised shows, which run to January 29.
Several fashion-watching outlets were rattled by a report on the New York
Post’s Page Six website that cited anonymous organisers saying that
“security issues” were keeping VIPs away from the catwalks’ front-row
seats.
Middle Eastern clients who often spend big on Paris’s Haute Couture
creations were said to be especially reluctant. The Federation Francaise de
la Couture, the body behind the Paris fashion
shows, did not respond directly to AFP queries on the issue.
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But a statement given to the fashion houses taking part said “simple
logistical measures” must be implemented “to reassure those attending the
shows and those participating in them.” They included heightened checks on
those holding invitations for the shows and bag inspections. Thousands of
police and soldiers have been deployed across Paris to reinforce security
in the wake of the attacks in the city.
Paris on high alert
French authorities and counterparts in Belgium and Germany have in the past
few days arrested dozens of Islamist suspects. There are concerns that some
of the thousands of radicalised young
Europeans believed to have gone to Iraq, Syria and Yemen to fight alongside
the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda linked groups could return to their
home countries to launch attacks.
Those fears were renewed by a gunbattle between police and well-armed
suspected jihadists in Belgium on Friday that left two of the suspects dead
and a third wounded. Britain was considering extra measures to give its
police better protection. The Paris fashion shows are seen as a high point
of the European catwalk calendars, following shows in London and Milan.
The event usually attracts high-profile show business names. Last year
actresses Liv Tyler and Marion Cotillard put in appearances, while reality
star Kim Kardashian and her husband Kanye West stole a lot of attention.
The shows start on Wednesday with five days of menswear collections
unveiled by the likes of Valentino, Louis Vuitton, Kenzo and Hermes.
Then on January 26, events kick into top gear with four more days of Haute
Couture fashion including the latest from top brands Chanel, Jean Paul
Gaultier and Christian Dior. Gaultier and his staff put a picture online of
them holding up the “Je Suis Charlie” (“I Am Charlie”) sign expressing
solidarity and defiance after the January 7 attack on the satirical French
weekly that killed 12 people.
The flamboyant French designer’s latest show will be his first since he
bowed out of ready-to-wear fashion last September in order to concentrate
on couture. Fashion industry journal Women’s Wear Daily, meanwhile, quoted
Chanel stylist Karl Lagerfeld saying that French authorities will have to
cope with people viewing Paris as a more dangerous place. “I think it’s
very bad for the image of Paris,” Lagerfeld told the site. (Marc
Burleigh, AFP)