Paris Noir is the new black! Stars get the memo at Valentino's show at Paris Fashion Week, writes LAURA CRAIK

The daffodils may be coming up but anyone hoping for a cheering splash of colour at Paris Fashion Week would have been left sorely disappointed by Valentino's show yesterday.

The Italian fashion house can usually be relied upon to embrace colour with exuberance – in 2022, creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli memorably dressed his models in a particular shade of fuchsia for the Valentino Pink PP collection.

Yet 'vibrant' is certainly not the first word that springs to mind when looking at Valentino's new autumn/winter collection, Le Noir. 'Funereal' might be a more fitting descriptor.

Piccioli focused on texture, with the sheerest chiffon, the most delicate lace and the shiniest sequins providing points of interest. Even the models' lips were painted glossy black.

He lent further interest to the collection by playing with silhouettes. Are you ready for the Eighties power shoulder? Let's hope so. There were also balloon-shaped sleeves, plunging V necklines and A-line mini skirts.

A model walking down the runway at the Valentino fashion show. Designers often default to black in challenging economic times, as its flattering quality is inevitably a vote-winner with customers

The Balenciaga show was also very black, with current face of the brand, Kim Kardashian (pictured), sitting front row in a body-conscious black dress with what appeared to be the dress label still (deliberately) attached

Tennis player Maria Sharapova at the Valentino fashion show at Paris Fashion Week. 'Vibrant' is certainly not the first word that springs to mind when looking at Valentino's new autumn/winter collection, Le Noir. 'Funereal' might be a more fitting descriptor

Bridgerton star Simone Ashley was also at the Valentino show. The Italian fashion house can usually be relied upon to embrace colour with exuberance – in 2022, creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli memorably dressed his models in a particular shade of fuchsia for the Valentino Pink PP collection

A model walking down the runway at the Valentino fashion show. Are you ready for the Eighties power shoulder? Let's hope so. There were also balloon-shaped sleeves, plunging V necklines and A-line mini skirts

Fans of Valentino's sumptuous leather bags had plenty of (black) eye candy to fixate on, in a variety of sizes that ran the gamut from dainty clutches to capacious totes.

Not all of Valentino's celebrity guests had received the memo. Model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wore a cropped grey top, a grey midi skirt and white stilettos, but tennis star Maria Sharapova adhered to the theme on the catwalk in a long black dress and coat, as did Bridgerton's Simone Ashley.

Designers often default to black in challenging economic times, as its flattering quality is inevitably a vote-winner with customers.

The Balenciaga show was also very black, with current face of the brand, Kim Kardashian, sitting front row in a body-conscious black dress with what appeared to be the dress label still (deliberately) attached.

At the Alexander McQueen show on Saturday, creative director Sean McGirr presented his first collection for the house, and much of it was black.

At Comme des Garcons, designer Rei Kawakubo presented a sculptural, voluminous black collection.

'The collection is about my present state of mind,' she explained in the accompanying show notes. 'I have anger against everything in the world, especially against myself.'

Whether anger or simply a desire to look slimmer is your motive, it looks as though we'll all be going back to black come autumn.