Volkswacht Bodensee - Paris fashion: The Dries dream lives on without Van Noten

The Flemish master, whose departure was compared to beloved coach Jurgen Klopp leaving Liverpool football club, left the keys to his studio team, saying: "I have been preparing for this moment."

His many fans are near fanatical about collecting his timelessly practical pieces that rarely appear on the resale market.

Many wondered if the self-confessed fashion "addict" was really the retiring type, and that if he could ever stay away.

Yet there was no sign of the 66-year-old at his brand's packed Paris show, where his studio took the bow and a standing ovation at the end.

Any lingering doubts that this might be the end of one of fashion's longest love stories quickly evaporated as the languid loveliness of the first prints hit the catwalk, with veteran fashion editor Suzie Menkes -- a living legend herself -- bestowing her favour as she left.

All those luxurious Van Noten colours were there with his quirky classic cuts, the collection unfurling like an exotic fever dream of muted African safari vibes with the most subtle snake, crocodile and leopard skin prints.

A moment later we were off somewhere in Sarawak with the most delicate silk prints, all set off with a sequence of stunning cantilever-heeled shoes.

Van Noten helped revolutionise the runways in the 1980s as part of the Antwerp Six group that included Ann Demeulemeester and the eternal rebel Walter Van Beirendonck.

The cult designer said his career had been "a dream come true" as he left. "Seeing our clothes out in the world... has fulfilled me beyond words."

"I want to shift my focus to all the things I never had time for. I'm sad, but at the same time, happy," he said.

Another Belgian designer, this time at the beginning of his career, impressed at French label Courreges.

Nicolas di Felice quickened the heartbeat with a subtly sexy and subversive update of the brand's 1960s futuristic DNA, with barely-there drapes of flesh-coloured cloth that seemed to float over the skin.

H.Gerber--VB