Manish Arora

From Carven to Lanvin, and everything in between.

Not quite one full year after being promoted to creative director, Lydia Maurer is out at Paco Rabanne.

Halloween is essentially cancelled for us New Yorkers. Thanks Sandy! So we've decided to have a fantasy Halloween in which we dress up using Srping 2013 runway looks...in our minds. Can you tell we're getting stir crazy?

Our list is a mix of rumored candidates, speculations and suggestions from other editors and designers, and some people we just think might be interesting.

Ah, Paris in spring. OK, it may not really be spring in Paris, but it is on the runways! Check out Balmain's big shoulders, Ann Demeulemeester's Jedi-friendly collection, and Manish Arora's India inspired runway.

The Clothes: Manish Arora is one of the most entertaining designers to watch during Paris washion week--nevertheless, under his cabaret-style shows li

All the glamour of the Paris shows. All the comfort of your sweat pants.

A month after the recently revivied Paco Rabanne label parted ways with creative director Manish Arora, the label has already named a successor. According to a press release, up-and-coming designer Lydia Maurer is the new Artistic Director of Women’s Ready-to-Wear at the house. While Maurer's name may not ring any bells outside the industry, the 29-year-old designer has definitely been around the block:

Another fashion house creative director job is up for grabs, in case you know anyone who's interested. Manish Arora, Paco Rabanne's artistic director for the past two seasons, has left the label, WWD is reporting. This is sort of a surprising development, because while Arora's first space-aged, Mugler-inspired collection for the label in spring 2012 received mixed reviews, his fall 2012 collection was more favorably received and much more wearable. Lady Gaga famously wore his out-there spring designs shortly after Arora's first show (which is obviously a different scenario than if say, Kate Middleton wears your clothes) and J. Lo just sported a top from the spring collection on American Idol. This doesn't necessarily mean that the clothes are moving at retail, but celeb buzz for a label is nothing to sneeze at. So why is he leaving?

Fashion shows aren't just about fashion anymore. Or more accurately, fashion isn't just about the clothes anymore. Every season, runway shows get more elaborate, as designers and brands try to cram a lot of drama into the 15 minutes that they have everyone's attention. And it works--it makes a show pretty memorable. (Whether or not it helps the image of a brand or helps the clothes be memorable remains to be seen, as our contributor Long Nguyen speculated in his review of Dior's show.) Karl Lagerfeld and his Chanel extravaganzas are the notable exception. Lagerfeld always wows us with a spectacle of grand proportions--and clothes to match. The Chanel show, which walks tomorrow in Paris, is undoubtedly the highlight of fashion month every seasaon. But those who have come before it this month weren't too shabby, either. Pyrotechnics, a fruit stand, and an escalator all helped designers tell their stories for their fall 2012 collections. Click through to see all the most outrageous runway shows from this season.

Manish Arora picked a theme and used it in the most bizarre fashion, far removed from what it evokes for most people. Remember last season? He claimed to be inspired by the freedom of the 1960s, and designed a collection of stiletto heels merging into ultra skinny jeans. The decade appeared in the shape of a single A-line dress (and arguably the smoking of chichas on the runway). This season, the New Delhi born designer found new inspiration for his luxurious eccentricity: graffiti art. Throughout the show, street artists painted early 90s inspired bright letters that were to spell out ‘life is beautiful’ by the end of it. As for the clothes, they were only very loosely connected to the culture. The designs represented timeless classics, to which he gave a stylized urban nudge.