Postcard from... Paris

Mademoiselle North West is barely over a year old, but she is already commanding what fashionistas may have spent entire careers working toward – a front-row seat at Givenchy.

The celebrity offspring was seated in pride of place at “AA5 bis” next to proud mum Kim Kardashian, in a revealing Givenchy black bodice look, and dad Kanye West. “Bis” is a French term for an additional, or last-minute placing, which implies North’s seat was confirmed at the last moment.

There was so much attention on the little star that people almost forgot the reason they were there: Riccardo Tisci’s ready-to-wear clothes.

There was also something frantic in the air at Christian Dior. The queue for the ready-to-wear spring/summer 2015 fashion show snaked out past the storeyed walls of the Louvre and dangerously into the road. Frenzied bloggers, and photographers, as well as curious tourists, pushed and shoved for a glimpse of Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard. Or maybe of Carla Bruni, the former French first lady, who triggered myriad iPhone flashes as she mingled near actress Dakota Fanning.

In the age of Twitter, a sense of desperation clings to the Dior shows. Four times a year, for a mere 15 minutes, celebrity, fashion and the world’s media collide. AP