The Greatest Show on Earth.(Paris Fashion Week; fashion shows by designers Alber Elbaz, John Galliano and Sophia Kokosalaki)

Fashion season is like a vicious scorpion dance: A potential brush with toxicity can happen at any time. And while there

were deadly moments during Paris Fashion Week, I found myself on the edge of my seat at some brilliant runway presentations, as well as at appointments full of luxurious new ideas for fall/winter.

It was at Lanvin, designed by Alber Elbaz for his eleventh collection, that the star collection came at sundown on the very last day of the entire four-week, four-city ready-to-wear season. What made this show exceptional was the offerings of individual choices for a woman who loves fashion but who also might be a doctor, like New York skin expert Lisa Airan, sitting second row in a boucle wool Rodarte suit with a skirt full of bombast pleats.

With Elbaz, the woman is guaranteed to be dressed with polish, with a sense of conviction of luxury in his materials, and with modernity. Yet the clothes in this tour de force were all based on eras gone by. The ultimate moment was seeing his stunning red wool front-zip coat woven with metal thread with bombast sleeves. "I choose fabric with metal," he said, "because it makes it more nervous."

Basic, simple shapes from the archives prepared Elbaz for liftoff. "I was looking at the sketches from 1910, 1918, 1936, and I suddenly saw that these dresses were like T-shirts," he said. "My goal was to erase all evidence of the past. Women who ultimately buy the clothes are not concerned about the inspiration. They want something that makes them feel great. Those sleeves, a white silk charmeuse shirt with a black skirt, are all featherweight. For me, lightness is a fantasy. I make it a reality in my work." He told me this two days afterward from his apartment, where he remained a recluse like Garbo (remember, she famously uttered, "I want to be alone"). After such a success, Elbaz didn't know where to turn. "I worked so hard on this collection that immediately after, backstage, I just collapsed. I came home and said to myself, I think I did good, but if they don't get it, I will check myself into an ashram in India." Yours truly told Mr. Elbaz that he didn't have to worry, to watch some good films and then go on holiday. But 72 hours after the smash hit and rave reviews, like any designer worth his weight in gold, he was off to select fabrics for the next collection, then to China for work, and on to Los Angeles for a session with Vogue photographer Steven Meisel, who is shooting the next campaign. His dream trip would be to Buenos Aires. For sure, if he goes to South America, expect to see vivid modern reconstructions of elegant tango style in the future.

When you step into a John Galliano mise-en-scene early for one of his Saturday- evening presentations, the jittery energy is just right to sweep fashion up off the floor of lugubriousness. And so it was with Galliano's madcap set, art-directed by English gent Michael Howells, based on an English country-weekend house party back in time that ...