Sometimes fashion can feel like a spectator sport with all the running around, high profile draftees and defectors, and dramatic commentary. So when a publicist referred to day 6 as 'Super Sunday' — super, because the day is packed with big shows including Balenciaga, Céline, Valentino and Givenchy — it sounded about right.
And with all the on- and off-calendar, and pre- and main-season shows, the Paris women's ready-to-wear week can feel like the championships after a long year of smaller tournaments and we're almost at the final round.
Here are need-to-knows from the day most likely to influence the rest of fashion, and your wardrobe...
Big, bold shoulders
When it comes to the kind of fashion that changes the course of the way we dress, there are five emotional stages (sometimes more.)
There's anger: 'What are thoooose. Awful. Why would anyone show that?'
Then indifference: 'Wear it if you want to, but I won't be spending my £800 pounds on that.'
Then curiosity: 'What's with all the weird-looking jeans I keep seeing on the street?'
Then acceptance: 'It looks alright when you wear it a certain way.'
Then lust: 'Want. Need. Right. Now.'
Shoulder pads, a look Demna Gvasalia revived with both Vetements and Balenciaga has already had major influence. He's the reason we're seeing them everywhere this season, in boxy coats, blazers and blouses.
For spring, he made them bigger, with stronger, exaggerated lines at Balenciaga. And it was polarising (editors in Paris seemed to either love it or hate it), like most agenda-setting fashion is.
When a compelling new idea hits the runway, it looks weird at first, sometimes even unnerving, before the eye adjusts to it and it becomes the thing you have to wear. Demna's enormous shoulders and boxy jackets have become that. And judging by the looks of the high street, the allure is proving to be irresistible.
Boxy tailoring
Phoebe Philo, long a woman who wields an enormous influence on the literal shape of what we wear, showed a bigger, boxier jacket with slightly sloped, padded shoulders over voluminous, fluid skirts and relaxed flares.
Her press notes included a quote from the American artist Dan Graham, 'I want to show that our bodies are bound to the world, whether we like it or not…' And the soundtrack featured all the noises from city life (traffic, voices.)
This was her new offering for your wardrobe: a new shape in a relaxed fit that's easy enough to move around in.
Hot pink
This was basically the colour of the day, appearing in Balenciaga, Céline and Valentino. And because these shows are so influential, that means you can add it to the list of colours of the season.
Pink has been going strong for a solid four years now, or more, going all the way back to Raf Simons' farewell collection for Jil Sander, which made cotton candy shades cool again.
Now, it's all about the Eighties variety: bright and garish, stopping just short of fuchsia. The colour of old Barbie doll wardrobes, but with heavyweight fashion credibility. If you find yourself with the urge to wear it, this is the reason why.
In Pierpaolo Piccioli's strong first solo collection for Valentino, a standout this week, the gowns were as bright as Zandra Rhodes' hair; she created the imagery embroidered on his dreamy, ethereal dresses.
Mismatched shoes
Simon Jacquemus showed mismatched heels, Phoebe Philo took it a step further, and showed contrasting shoes.
A white ankle boot on one foot, a red one on the other.
And on other looks: a black strappy sandal on the right, a white one on the left. Editors and the Instagram masses liking their posted pics approved.
