Topless feminist protesters storm the catwalk at Nina Ricci as Paris Fashion Week roars into life (VIDEO)

While topless models might be par for the course in Paris, topless feminists most certainly are not. Yet at Nina Ricci, bare-breasted protesters were exactly what assembled fashionistas got.

As models glided down the catwalk clad in the designer's elegant cream and silver vision for next summer, a pair of topless women with slogans daubed across their bodies stormed the stage, screaming 'fashion fascism' as they went.

The duo, who belonged to Ukrainian feminist organisation FEMEN, then engaged in an unseemly tussle with security guards before being hauled off the catwalk.

Sacre bleu! Models calmly continue at Nina Ricci as the two topless protesters from FEMEN are unceremoniously hauled away by 

security

Although the twosome were quickly removed, they were on the runway long enough to show off their slogans - 'model don't go to brothel' and 'fashion dicterror' [sic] - and to discomfit some unfortunate models and the gobsmacked front row.

But despite the best efforts of the activists, after two days of young talent and obscure names, Paris Fashion Week finally roared into life as behemoths Lanvin, Carven and Balenciaga unveiled their vision for S/S14 in the French capital.

Charge! The pair sprint towards a Nina Ricci model watched by a baffled looking front row before being hauled away by a security guard

Lanvin's Alber Elbaz unveiled a collection that was replete with his trademark figure flattering designs, which this time around came in shimmering metallic pink silk, rich deep violet lace and sequinned grass green.

Elbaz has clearly been watching the Great Gatsby too, with flapper-style dropped waists and embellished trim cropping up on dresses while skirts were knee-length and scattered with sequins.

Day three also saw fashion pack heavy-hitters take their place on the front row for the first time with Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, French Vogue editor, Emmanuelle Alt, Anna Dello Russo and Thailand's Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana all turning out to support Elbaz.

Balenciaga meanwhile, drew a stellar crowd that included Wintour, former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld, and billionaire fashion tycoon François-Henri Pinault.

They were joined by some of the world's most stylish celebrities including Pinault's wife Salma Hayek, singer MIA and Dazed & Confused co-founder, Jefferson Hack.

But while the star quotient delighted the waiting photographers outside, inside the Observatoire, where Balenciaga's young creative director Alexander Wang unveiled his vision for next summer, all eyes were on the catwalk.

Triumph: Lanvin owner Shaw Lan Wang (centre) celebrates backstage with Alber Elbaz and Vogue Japan's Anna Dello Russo after a successful show

In true Wang style, the aesthetic was sporty and short, with carefully crafted round-shouldered dresses stopping well short of the knee and tiny tailored shorts made youthful with monochrome lace print.

But though the lacy arabesques and curlicues were well executed, as far as Wang is concerned, next summer is set to be the summer that floral prints return with a vengeance.

His were small and perfectly-formed, coming in inky navy and bright pink, superimposed over a complementary palette of blush pink, pale blue and classic neutrals, albeit with the odd flash of purple to liven proceedings up.

And Wang wasn't the only one to conclude that purple and floral is a winning combination. Over at Carven, creative director Guillaume Henry combined both motifs with his customary aplomb.

Unlike Wang, however, Henry's florals were an altogether more literal affair with delicately rendered pansies and blowsy cabbage roses liberally strewn across round shouldered jackets, short A-line skirts and neat dresses with first lady friendly capped shoulders.

Not content with florals, the Frenchman also threw a vivid dose of camouflage into the mix, with a low key pea green and dove grey version that appeared on slouchy jackets contrasting with a daringly bright hot pink and purple variant that featured on a popstar-friendly cross-strapped dress.

Not everyone was so keen however. At Balmain, creative director Olivier Rousteing decreed that double houndstooth was the only print worth being seen in next summer, although did let a few flowers creep in woven into a delicate sugar pink lace blouse.

Balmain's trademark embellishment was also very much in evidence, not least in a skirt that was made entirely from wide-spaced be-crystalled mesh and a similar top that was bravely worn by Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley.

As ever, there was much that was big, bold and bling, whether chunky gold cuffs or a lightweight knitted dress in mint green that came with a contrasting fluffy marabou skirt. 

WHO ARE FEMEN?

Founded in 2008 by Anna Hutsol, Ukraine's FEMEN is a feminist protest group that specialises in controversial topless protests against everything from sex tourism to fashion.

The group claims to have around 140 members and has a history of attempting to disrupt fashion week, last appearing outside the Versace couture show in Paris earlier this year to protest against the use of 'anorexic models'. 

Famously, the group were also behind the bare-breasted ambush of Russia's President Putin at a Hanover trade fair in April, where he was taking in proceedings alongside German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

Bright and beautiful though Balmain was, no one does colour quite like India's Manish Arora and so it proved when the veteran designer unveiled his pitch for our summer wardrobes.

Orange, hot pink, lilac and turquoise shimmered down the runway turning the Paris show into a spectacle that wouldn't have looked out of place in Mumbai - an effect heightened by the maestro's creative use of embroidery and print.

Typically quirky accessories, including a treasure trove of chunky gold bangles and beaded cuffs, combined with the eccentric models sporting quiffed white blonde wigs rounded out Arora's rainbow of a show.

Arora's colourful vision, sadly, is relatively rare in Paris and at Irfe, the French capital's determinedly chic brand of minimalism staged a return thanks to designer Olga Sorokina's decision to stick almost entirely to unsummery camel and black.

Although the label, founded by Russian emigres in the 1920s, has a long association with Paris, some distinctly Muscovite touches were apparent in the thigh-scraping hemlines and occasional dusting of silver sequins.

Unconventional though Sorokina's embrace of summer black was, she wasn't the only one with the Paco Rabanne also boasting a sprinkling of ensembles in the inky hue.

Rabanne, however, also chose dusky rose, pistachio, cobalt and a hint of warm white to go with his wet-look patent black mini-dresses, deploying sugar shades on neatly tailored shirts with fluted space age sleeves, carefully cropped trousers and daring bandage dresses.

Not surprisingly for the man who supplied the costumes for 1960s space classic Barbarella, Rabanne couldn't resist a splash of silver and unleashed it on a delicate chain metal dress as well as spaghetti strapped silk tops.

While Rabanne's latest effort wasn't stellar in every way - mint flares anyone? - the strength of day three's offering suggests Paris is well and truly gearing up for lift off.

Culled from Daily Mail