The runway met the street at Paris Fashion Week when Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquiere brought punk rock into the mix for spring.

Presented in the gilded ballroom of the Hotel de Crillon, the same place debutantes are presented to society every year, Ghesquiere's desmoiselles had a baroque grandeur all their own, right down to the silver studs on the soles of their shoes.

Ghesquiere said backstage that he had wanted to explore different ideals of beauty, so he cast a wider net for models than usual, recruiting thirtysomethings (what passes for older in this business), including Stella Tennant, and even a few unknowns from the street. All wore their hair swept into short styles, which practically rendered them genderless.

The collection was a clashing of masculine and feminine, real and faux, old and new. Soft lavender, bubblegum pink, lemon yellow and cornflower blue shared the runway with rebel-rousing red, white and black.

And as always, the fabrics were unreal, including laces that looked as if they had been singed, or embroidered with Silly String.

Opening the show were cocoon coats after Cristobal Balenciaga's originals, except that these were plasticky-looking with supersized red-and-black houndstooth checks. They morphed into zip-front vests with Peter Pan collars in the same pattern, and matching miniskirts with zigzag hems.

Then came the menswear -- a black tailcoat with satin lapels worn with red bubble shorts and a white button-down with silver metal collar tips. (That's right, we're really going back there.)

But the sleeveless button-down shirts were the biggest hit -- assemblages of pastel patterns and prints (modern art, really), worn with black pants that fastened at the side with silver hardware. Of course, there were biker jackets too, in both real and fake leather -- sometimes on the same piece.

Digitized metallic houndstooth tops were paired with see-through knit jersey lace skirts that had printed underskirts to give them structure. And one-shouldered dresses covered with sequins sewn inside out, glinted like fireworks.

After two weeks of soft and 1970s-inspired on the runways in Milan and New York, it was time for something with a harder edge. Ghesquiere delivered without relying on all the safety-pinned, Sex Pistols cliches that made Christophe Decarnin's punk rock-themed Balmain collection, shown just hours later, so forgettable.

--Booth Moore in Paris

Balenciaga spring-summer 2011 runway collection photo gallery

Balmain spring-summer 2011 runway collection photo gallery

Photos: Looks from the Balenciaga spring-summer 2011 runway collection shown during Paris Fashion Week. Credit: Jonas Gustavsson & Peter Stigter.

It's probably no coincidence that for his first runway collection since the launch of the Balenciaga Paris fragrance last month, house designer Nicolas Ghesquiere let his imagination run wild with the concept of packaging. Packaging is of paramount importance in the competitive perfume industry and was reflected in the collection he showed on the Paris runways last week.

Because really, what is fashion, if not packaging in every sense of the word?

Ghesquiere worked with a combination of natural and synthetic materials, including nylon, polyamide, cashmere, silk and camel hair, mixing the ordinary and the extraordinary.

The result was like a trip to the 99 Cents Only Store and Andy Warhol's Factory rolled into one. The boxy, mixed-media jackets and dresses that opened the show were incredibly tactile, as if they had been constructed using packing materials such as cardboard, tape and paper. Plasticky striped tops in sorbet colors, cinching models' waists like wrappers cinch pieces of hard candy, were paired with cropped pants and sandals with modular-looking block heels.

You might not be able to afford Balmain's signature military jackets that can cost about $11,000, but now you can wear a spring accessory from the Paris fashion house for a fraction of that price: $595.

Christophe Decarnin, who led a revival of the 65-year-old name by foisting a broad-shouldered silhouette that had Beyonce and Rihanna rocking his epaulets last spring, collaborated with local eyewear company Oliver Peoples for two limited-edition unisex sunglasses. The first style, the Balmain I, is out in April and available at Oliver Peoples' boutiques.* The Balmain II is slated to drop in June.

“I was thrilled at the opportunity to work with such a talented designer," says Oliver Peoples founder Larry Leight. "Christophe’s visionary designs and his progressive, bold styling has revamped the concept of rock 'n' roll chic. I swear that guy could send a mullet down the runway and make it look sexy as hell.”

The Balmain I features a metal top-bar wrap in a 1980s retro-wrap style that resembles specs worn by "Rio"-era Duran Duran. The Balmain II is an interpretation of a double-bridge aviator in gold or silver. 

-- Max Padilla

* An earlier version of the post said the Balmain I glasses would be available in late March. A company rep said the sunglasses would be available in Oliver Peoples stores in April.

Photo: The Balmain I. Credit: Oliver Peoples

L.A. denim brand Hudson has always been one of the more sophisticated "premium" labels -- putting more effort into its subtle design details than its trend chasing. 

And now it's vying for a bigger piece of the market with the introduction of Hudson Collection, a fashion-forward denim-and-twill line priced even higher than its signature denim line -- from $215 to $995.

$995 jeans? It's an interesting move, considering the ongoing recession and moderating of prices on the part of Hudson's contemporaries, including Joe's Jeans and Seven for All Mankind. But then, nothing could keep die-hard fashion girls from buying $1,000 Balmain jeans last year -- suggesting that women just may be willing to spend big on denim with true cache.

But does Hudson -- a low-key brand in the world of high-end denim -- have enough panache to carry off the sky-high prices?

The collection is certainly trend-right. Jeans boast accents including cut-off waistbands, exposed zippers and hardware darting. There's a cool harem pant jean (right) and a pair with zippers running up the back of each leg (left); a tough-girl take on seamed pantyhose.

The collection breaks down into four categories: Minimalist (simple, well-tailored bottoms); Resurrection (one-of-a-kind jeans that use previously damaged denim to re-engineer fabric in a patchwork fashion); DIY (offering distressed washes, rough details, cut-out waistbands and custom zippers); and Subversion (which combines military-inspired details with modern silhouettes). The collection will debut in L.A. at Barneys New York on Feb. 15.

What do you think? Are you ready to invest in high-end jeans again? What's your price ceiling for denim? Let us know in the comments section below.

-- Emili Vesilind

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Photos: Looks from the new Hudson Collection. Credit: Hudson

Looks like Balmainia is going to continue for at least another season. Christophe Decarnin's flashy, trashy glamour has been driving the fashion world of late, and there's no stopping him now. For spring, the Balmain designer turned to the military look, with coppery metal mesh as the main stylistic element in his raucous show set to 1980s party anthem "Rapper's Delight."

A lot of designers this season are streaming their shows live on the Internet (Giorgio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana in Milan, Alexander McQueen this coming Tuesday at 11:10 a.m. PST from Paris), and this certainly would have been a candidate. It had all the sizzle of a Hollywood event, and Decarnin certainly has his finger on the pulse of celebrity culture.

If there is someone who has inadvertently benefited from Michael Jackson's death, it is Decarnin. (Jackson had even wore a few of his jackets.) The designer continued to hark back to the King of Pop with extreme shoulder lines, fringed epaulets and military badges. The 1980s flashback might have started to wear a bit thin, if it were not done so darn well. Coppery mesh was inset into bullet holes on military green tailcoats and destroyed T-shirts, worn over skintight laced leather leggings, and draped into warrior princess mini-dresses cinched with wide crocodile bullet-studded belts that are sure to become cult items.

It's not as if these clothes are new, but their brash sexiness is what's resonating now with Rihanna (sitting front row), Beyonce, Gwyneth Paltrow and others. It is unapologetically in-your-face, look-at-me fashion.

Balmain's prices are sky-high (think $5,000 for a jacket), which makes it out of reach for almost everyone (aforementioned celebrities not withstanding). And that is certainly part of the allure. But when you look at who is influencing the mass market right now, it's Decarnin -- the sequins, the stripes, the holey jeans and fringed booties. Zara and H&M should be thankful for another hot show to pluck from.

--Booth Moore

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Photo: Balmain's spring-summer 2010 runway. Credit: Peter Stigter and Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times

I was doing some speed shopping at the Beverly Center yesterday.  As I whizzed past Express, a striking black tux blazer caught my eye.

The sharp lapels and slouchy fit are very fitting for fall.  But it was the sequin and studded lapels and collar that flooded my brain with the Balmain runway collection.

This Express version doesn’t have the signature super-sized shoulders, but if you’re dedicated, sticking some pads in there is always an option. Plus, the Express jacket is just $98.

 Happy (fall) shopping.

-- Melissa Magsaysay

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 Embellished blazer from Express/Express