Showing in Paris for the first time after years as the star of London Fashion Week, Giles Deacon brought a much-needed injection of British humour.
It started with the invitation, a blow-up dinosaur, and the theme continued throughout the collection.
In modelling terms, you could say that Daphne Guinness is herself a dinosaur, albeit a very beautiful one.
The 41-year-old heiress, a long-standing friend and client of Deacon's, opened the show in a lime green bustier dress with a spider brooch nestled in her cleavage.
Her distinctive silver grey hair, which she habitually wears up in a neat chignan, fell loosely around her shoulders and was highlighted with strands of lilac and darker grey, making her look almost unrecognisable.
Guinness's hair seemed to provide inspiration for the whole show, as every model sported silver grey locks in her image.
This was a cheerful, fun collection from Deacon, full of interesting fabric juxtapositions and colourful prints.
Had he been gazing at the exhibits in the Natural History Museum before boarding the Eurostar to Paris?
It might explain the cute little dinosaur-shaped tote bags in shiny metallic leather - the perfect tongue-in-cheek antidote to the usual raft of po-faced It bags served up by the average luxury goods house.
Prom dresses with jaunty umbrella skirts were underlined with a serrated edge in shiny orange plastic, echoing a dinosaur's spine.
Serrated edges also ran up the back of the plastic panels on a corset dress.
For yes, here was further evidence of the corset trend guaranteed to terrify most women next spring. Madonna, eat your heart out.
Not that Deacon's corsets were in the traditional, lacy mode.
Rather, the plastic panels made them look at once futuristic and reminiscent of the Sixties designer Courrèges.
At the more youthful end, the dresses were prom-shaped, with wide, swinging skirts that fell above the knee and came in vibrant hues of fluorescent pink, orange or blue decorated with froths of tulle.
But there were also more sophisticated dresses, such as a blue Forties-style button-through silk dress with a spider print.
Trousers were thin on the ground, but a pair of cigarette pants in pale blue brocade broke up the pace, as did some shiny metallic blue leather ones.
After a London fashion week that saw many British brands return to the fold, including Burberry and Matthew Williamson, Deacon could be seen as an anomaly for choosing Paris.
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But as recipient of this year's prestigious ANDAM award, a prize of €160,000 provided by, among others, Gucci Group and the Pierre Berger Society, it was stipulated that he should show in the country who funded the award. London's loss was certainly Paris's gain.
