Catwalk focus at Paris Fashion Week

A model striding down the catwalk, sporting a brand new creation by Japanese designer Tsumori Chisato (Reuters)

Photographers capture a model striding down the catwalk, sporting a brand new creation by Japanese designer Tsumori Chisato, who yesterday unveiled her spring-summer 2013 ready-to-wear collection at Paris Fashion Week.

Chisato, who has been showing in Paris since 2003, was in good company yesterday, part of a packed schedule that included some of the biggest names in the industry from France and further afield: Cacharel, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier and Commes des Garons.

Kenzo, Céline, Hermès and Givenchy unveil their women's ready-to-wear collections today, while Stella McCartney, Chanel and Louis Vuitton will be showcasing their latest designs tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

The first ever fashion week was staged in New York in 1943. Paris Fashion Week was launched 30 years later in 1973, with Milan the next to follow in 1979. London finally jumped on the bandwagon in 1984.