Chanel returned to the Grand Palais -- scene of the late Karl Lagerfeld's most legendary triumphs -- for the first time in four years Tuesday without a designer but still able to ruffle feathers with its birdcage-themed Paris Fashion Week show.

Chanel turned its Paris Fashion Week runway into a giant aviary, with a white birdcage at its centre to show off a collection festooned with plumes and feathers. Only a day earlier designer Stella McCartney had lamented the "billions of birds killed for the fashion industry".

Paris Fashion Week starts Monday in a swirl of rumours of musical chairs at some of the sector's most fabled brands.

Chanel took to the Grand Palais for its spring-summer runway show on Tuesday, marking its return to the soaring glass and steel monument with an eclectic collection of sparkly tweed ensembles and a singing performance from actor Riley Keough.

Chanel might still be without a creative director, but the spring/summer 2025 catwalk show will always be a memorable one as it marks the house's return to the Grand Palais after four years away. The landmark – which has served as the location for the brand's catwalk shows for decades – recently underwent restoration,

The German-born designer Karl Lagerfeld, a key player man in the revival of the house of Chanel, has always been a fan of biting little comments but also of a form of excess. In the 1990s, when the Parisian fashion shows were mainly held at the Carrousel du Louvre,