Show biz.(Miuccia Prada, Karl Lagerfeld)

Superbad! After three solid weeks in the chiffon trenches of Europe, I am sorry to report that

I have been almost totally stumped in my quest to find beauty in the void that is the spring/summer ready-to-wear for 2007. This has been, without doubt, one of the dullest of seasons. The design realm, in general, seems to have found inspiration in regression, turning women into Japanese cartoon characters or little Lolitas. Too many shows were like bad episodes of Project Runway.

But hold on to your fashion emotions, people. There were a few exceptions, the two most outstanding being Chanel in Paris and Prada in Milan. Both Karl Lagerfeld and Miuccia Prada were brilliant beacons in the long, dark night of the European collections, demonstrating to the industry how a luxury brand can offer up bankable ideas. Without the strong visions of these two, spring would be a tough sell for that optimistic customer who, come midwinter, wants to give her wardrobe a vitamin booster and flirt with a fresh, bright new purchase or two.

SEARCH AND DESTROY

Karl Lagerfeld held his Chanel show in the newly restored Grand Palais, in the center of Paris on an Indian-summer morning. His workmen had constructed a giant box, to simulate the famous rue Cambon couture ca_bine. The girls walked out in short white pique CC-marked robes, in reference to robes the mannequins wore in Coco's day: Down went the robes, and the clothes were revealed. From start to finish, it was

a bouncy romp, applauded by the audience without ambivalence.

The models' hair was pulled back with giant black organza bows (Lagerfeld's only apology to the naughty-child mood running rampant this season); their arms, wrists, necks, and waists were stacked with glorious matte-gold or black bracelets and chains; on their feet were what I consider the best shoes created since Chanel's new millennium began, a Lucite wedge that exposed the foot except for a T-bar strap.