Feathers Fly As Chanel Returns To Paris Fashion Week

Chanel returned to the Grand Palais -- scene of the late Karl Lagerfeld's most legendary triumphs for the first time in four years Tuesday with a birdcage-themed Paris Fashion Week show that recalled the label's past glories.

The famed French house turned the newly refurbished Belle Epoque edifice into a giant aviary, with a white birdcage at its centre to show off a collection festooned with plumes and feathers.

Only a day earlier British designer Stella McCartney had lamented the 'billions of birds killed for the fashion industry' after the animal rights campaigner's own bird-themed Paris show.

But there were plumes aplenty at Chanel -- a favourite of its founder Gabrielle Chanel as it celebrated her fascination with birds and flight.

The cage in the centre of the glass and steel nave was also a knowing nod to Chanel's iconic bird on a swing advert from 1992 starring French singer Vanessa Paradis and her black tail feathers.