In her review of Paris Fashion Week for the New York Times, Cathy Horyn says:

The problem for fashion in the age of instant access to images is simple: Without extremely willful individuals exerting their imaginations, experimenting with new materials and shapes, the industry as a whole will seem weak to the people who follow it. There must be something exceptional, almost violently strong and not immediately accessible, if fashion is to be a force.

Her strong favorite was Balenciaga, where Nicolas Ghesquiere was experimenting with shapes and materials, pushing the envelope “to ennoble everyday objects.”

Of Dries Van Noten, long a favorite of mine, she had this to say:

For fall he has taken army khaki and made it an offhand companion to Paris tailoring. The newest coats and jackets, in masculine wools with nipped waists, suggested a ’50s hourglass figure, with olive drab pants narrowing below the knees and buckled with straps. So it was almost a pity he had to make do with the schmaltz of a government reception hall instead of the vitality of a street corner. The clothes, after all, had that energy.

She seems to share Chris Muther’s dismay over the resurgence of khaki, but I’m willing to forgive Mr. Van Noten his use of it. Dockers these are not. In addition to the military influence, there were lots of sweaters and animal prints in this collection and a few fun patterns and colors we’ve come to expect from Dries Van Noten. I found plenty to love.

Sarah Mower at Style.com had this to say:

Freud’s great unanswered question, “What does a woman want?” seems to be hanging over this round of collections, and it’s already turned up some funny, off-beam stabbings around in the dark. Funny, that is, because isn’t it obvious? What we want is a casual way of dressing that’s also formal enough, new yet not ridiculously gimmicky, confident yet not egregiously aggressive, traditional in a comfortable way, yet also fresh in such a manner that we feel compelled to buy it. Well, let’s hand it to Dries Van Noten for coming up with a personal squaring of all those apparently oh-so-difficult contradictions.

Yes, I feel compelled to buy it.