Claudia's explosive entry lifts Chanel show

TAMSIN BLANCHARD

Paris

Security was stepped up yesterday morning at the Chanel show for Karl Lagerfeld's spring/summer '96 collection at the purpose-built catwalk theatre under the Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, after rumours of a bomb threat.

The celebrity count has been low this season because of the security checks and general tension in the city, following the recent wave of bombings.

Valentino, who has dressed Emma Thompson, Jamie Lee Curtis and Sharon Stone presented his collection after Yves Saint Laurent on Wednesday with not even Joan Collins seated on the front row. Madonna turned up for Helmut Lang and John Galliano, neither of whom showed at the obvious terrorist target of the central Paris Carrousel du Louvres.

Chanel was rumoured to be a target because it is the best known fashion house in Paris. But the only hint of an explosion came when the huge globe at the end of the catwalk split in two to reveal Claudia Schiffer in a cloud of dry ice.