Dior designers use color, black

A model presents a creation by Belgian designer Raf Simons as part of his Spring/Summer 2013 women's ready-to-wear fashion show for French house Dior during Paris fashion week September 28, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Spring signals new beginnings. Not only in statement-making prints and new colors - as the Paris spring-summer 2013 season has shown - but in bold ideas that remap the fashion landscape.

One such revamp came in the form of Raf Simons.

The anticipation around the Belgian's ready-to-wear debut at Dior was palpable: Crowds spilled into the all-white edifice at the Hotel des Invalides and actor Robert de Niro, director Luc Besson and designer Diane Von Furstenberg lined the front row.

And the designer did not disappoint - evolving his own minimalist style with whimsical exuberance and also that of the iconic house, whose codes he mastered, then subverted.

Taking the trend of color spliced with summer black, his pale palette came in yellows, greens, pink and metallic blue.

Brighter hues were served up by Roland Mouret, the master of va-va-voom, and Anne Valerie Hash whose unified collections boasted vibrancy, yet, still, never strayed too far from the black, that's now a mainstay for 2013.

Issey Miyake, meanwhile, picked back up of the popular trend of color-blocking to kaleidoscopic effect.

Saturday's shows include dutch design duo Viktor & Rolf and the fashion queen of England, Vivienne Westwood.