CHRISTIAN Dior

Say it with flowers. That was the clear message from new designer Raf Simons in his 1950s-tinged haute couture debut for Christian Dior.

When the normally exuberant house first hired the Belgian designer, known for his minimalist and linear style, it raised eyebrows.

But this show will win many over.

He revitalized with panache the curved Dior "flower women" silhouette. It's the phrase Christian Dior himself used to describe his revolutionary 1947 New Look of cinched waists and full skirts that resembled inverted flowers.

The result: a strong show in homage to Dior's love of flowers, but never a servile one. Simons owned it.

Fifty-four diverse looks paraded through several sweet-scented salons, wall-to-wall in myriad multi-colored flowers. Simons truncated the New Look, pairing high-waisted A-line mini dresses with contemporary black pants.

These were followed by a series of clean A-line archive pieces in bright reds and pale pink. Their clean lines with large, hip-level pockets signaled a break from the vivacity of Simons' predecessor, John Galliano,

Simons' show proves that change is a good thing. Now, Dior could well give Louis Vuitton and Hermes a run for their money.

Elie Saab

Elie Saab used Ottoman motifs to give his fall/winter 2012-13 show an imaginative lift. The move expanded his strict repertoire of va-va voom column dresses and created a strong offering for this year's couture season.

A superb array of embroidered black gowns in tulle, lace and georgette - which opened the show - was the best sequence. Pearls glistened alongside sequins in decorative shapes.

"The black was fantastic, this season he's put in much thought," said stylist Susan Tabak.

The blacks then gave way to a typical Saab palette of champagne, pink and sky blue. And the money-shot came at the end: an embossed organza bridal gown with gold brocade leaves.

Saab's program notes said the patterns had been "lifted from a palace along the banks of the Bosphorus" - and the glimmering decorative effects did endow the show with a certain Imperial element.

Saab - a designer beloved by the red carpet crowd - made no big creative leaps here. But then again, he doesn't need to.

Giorgio Armani Prive

Giorgio Armani found romance in the midnight sky in a sumptuous haute couture collection that followed the changing hues of the sun.

His accomplished fall/winter 2012 collection began with a daybreak of sorts, in lighter shades of mauve and lavender in organzas and double crepe. Shoulders were emphasized, some with upward scooped tailoring. Others had upper bodices in graduated shades of pink - dawn's first rays.

Then as the sun set, the couture got to work. Embroidered veils appeared, signaling dusk. Geometric embroidery accompanied black tulle tops with Swarovski crystals.

The show climaxed at midnight (in blue, naturally) with some of the most sumptuous dresses seen this season. A blue silk bustier dress rippled with its generous overlaid skirt and a gentle tulle shoulder shrug.

And who better to comment on elegance across time than Sophia Loren? The beautiful 77-year-old film star sat in the front row. "It was magnificent," she said.

Chanel

What do a supermodel and a 79-year-old former French first lady have in common? Chanel haute couture.

The unlikely pairing of Laetitita Casta and Bernadette Chirac was seen at Karl Lagerfeld's strong and varied fall/winter 2012 show, aptly titled "New Vintage." Their presence showed the enduring allure of 100-year-old Chanel. Lagerfeld - Chanel's designer since 1983 - is still at the top of his game in a show that modernized the company's archive.

Down the catwalk went shimmering silk tweed skirt suits, ensembles from the 1950s and 60s, and a 1930s bolero jacket. Other outfits sparkled with a contemporary metallic sheen.

In some instances, Lagerfeld resurrected the 1980s. Big, bold textured checks in black, gray and white channeled the decade's strong shoulders and narrow hemline. In other looks, pink tulle fringing recreated a 1920s dropped waist effect.

The boldest look saw Lagerfeld let his pony-tailed hair down in an electric blue dress that could have been Chanel's answer to 1970s glam rock. "Ravishing," said Chirac. "It's French perfectionism," said Casta.

Valentino

Valentino opened its art history books for a vintage-feeling fall/winter 2012 show, with couture inspired by the Old Masters.

Choker-collar gowns in silk chiffon and crepe de chine blue capes floated past with the eerie, magical feel of a bygone age. Why the old-school references?

"We just love our past," said Maria Grazia Chiuri, one half of the design duo, afterwards. "The capes are the idea of the woman as the new Madonna ... like in Giotto and Boticelli."

But there were intentional contradictions in the style. One piece with a gentle V-neck had an on-trend inflated arm. "The idea was to give these women a new kind of regality," said Chiuri's co-designer Pierpaolo Piccioli.

Two pale pink silk gowns, with fresco-like images of branches, had a Renaissance-style Empire waist, a look that has been making a comeback.

The best pieces were often the simplest. In some of the lavish garments, there was an overkill of embroidery, and the designers' message got lost.

Jean Paul Gaultier

Fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier loves film. For proof, look no further than his dandyesque fall/winter 2012 haute couture offering, which paid homage to the silver screen.

The 60-year-old's still evidently enthusiastic after a stint as a Cannes Film Festival jury member this year.

The show took for its muse an unlikely matinee idol: the singer Pete Doherty, who made his acting debut as a 19th-century figure in a film that was screened at the Riviera.

The movie, "Confession of a Child of the Century," bowled Gaultier over. "I said, 'my god he is so seductive, a decadent dandy'," said the designer backstage. "And that's my collection."

The result was an androgynous and theatrical couture delight. Nineteenth-century top hats accompanied high taffeta collars, deconstructed texture-rich satin crepe waistcoats and a lot of black. The black was broken up with explosions color and bright fox fur, which provoked whoops of delight from the crowd.

"I'm here because it's lively and provocative," said movie star Bette Midler from the front row.