Sarah Burton highlights her winter inspirations

Paris: Words were almost inaudible amid the screams when Stella McCartney presented her collection at Paris Fashion Week Monday, which toyed with draping and up cycling.

Such exuberant outbursts would usually come from the designer’s fans. But it was McCartney herself who caused the commotion when global entertainment icon Oprah Winfrey appeared backstage at her show.

Meanwhile, Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen travelled for winter inspiration to the textile mills of her native northern England. Here are some highlights of the fall and winter 2019 ready-to-wear displays:

McCartney, a global fashion icon and the daughter of former-Beatle Paul McCartney was evidently humbled as she was jostled backstage while standing alongside Winfrey.

The British-American designer said she aimed this season to project a “powerful persona.” Her chicly-deployed collection succeeded in towing the line between this strength and a softness that has come to be synonymous with McCartney’s designs.

Structure was everywhere. Tight waists were cinched with on-trend belts or geometric panels. But McCartney demonstrated her deft hand by using draping sensitively to break up any harshness in the lines.

Fall-winter was all about the shoulders, which came peaked in the style of the late-1970s or with an extraneous layer of material for a stylish Japanese feel. A vivid red gown with a cross-over-style torso and fluttery waist tassels perfected the Asian musing. In an intentionally divergent style, contrasting black thigh-high “stripper” boots accessorised that look to give it some welcome spice.

A vacuum-packed oak tree leaf was included inside invitations to eco-warrior McCartney’s show. It was done to promote a campaign to protect the Leuser Ecosystem in Indonesia. Called “There She Grows”, the campaign invites the public and the designer’s friends — that have so far included Gwyneth Paltrow, Pink, Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon and Rooney Mara — to dedicate a tree to raise awareness.

The ecological references by the designer, who uses no fur and only “vegetarian leather”, continued in the collection through lashings of greens and browns in the color palette, and the use of upcycled material to make dresses.

“We try to bring the environment into the conversation now, more and more,” McCartney told the AP. Ecology has been a theme this season: Kenzo sent out an invite last week with tomato seeds embedded in the plant able paper.