>> This evening at the Ecole Des Beaux Arts, Rick Owens had a bit of a seating situation, leaving a number of guests standing and unhappy.  One editor reportedly decided "standing is the new front row," and WWD later noted: "If you’ve outgrown your venue, move on. Otherwise, there’s no excuse for double-booking seat upon seat."

To a soundtrack of crashing waves and with Gareth Pugh front row (Owens attended Pugh's show yesterday), a stream of sculptural shoulderpieces, long loincloth-like skirts, slicked back hair (glue sticks were used to keep it in place) and crinkled metallic bubble dresses exited backstage. Suvi Koponen made her first appearance since her smattering of shows at New York Fashion Week, but most striking was Owens's sudden casting of models of color — Georgie Baddiel, Kinee Diouf, Aminata Niaria, and Rose Cordero all made appearances; his shows have been entirely whitewashed since the Spring 2005 season, when he also cast four black models.

>> With Laduree macaroons catered backstage and Rihanna arriving half an hour late to sit front row, Daria Werbowy opened (and closed, and walked in the middle of) the Balmain show — her only show for the season — in the gilded, marbled ballroom of The Grand Hotel.

Christophe Decarnin's strong shoulders and ripped jeans were still present, but gone were the '80s. This season, “it’s warrior women and the military, with a mix of different times and a touch of Mad Max," he told Suzy Menkes; stylist Emmanuelle Alt's personal style was prevalent as ever, particularly in the pants-and-jackets combinations.

Since Decarnin took over at Balmain in 2006, the brand's ready-to-wear sales have double each season, according to CEO Alain Hivelin, and next season brings an eyewear collection with Oliver Peoples.  The brand's much-buzzed-about $2,000 jeans are priced as such because, Hivelin says, certain pieces receive hundreds of hours of embroidery or have been reworked up to 50 times before they hit retail.  But here's irony for you: Decarnin picks up his own wardrobe at army surplus stores.

>> For the second season in a row, Balenciaga showed at the Hotel Crillon — word is residents forced them to move from their previous location — and Nicolas Ghesquiere took his eye "back to the start again," as the show's soundtrack went, returning to his sporty, skinny pants roots.  The leggings, vests, and dresses were collages of contrasting materials — "like toys," the designer noted — and his goal was to create an entirely modern collection, sans references to the past.

In his effort to think differently, Ghesquiere told the Wall Street Journal, he mused: “There are cocktail dresses everywhere. I am asking, who are these women who go to cocktails all the time?’’  He also had his runway shoe samples made it a number of different sizes (39-41) rather than the standard 39, to help prevent runway stumbles.

Anouck Lepere and Lily Cole were both front row this morning, but the big model surprise was Victoria's Secret Angel Miranda Kerr, who some see as Balenciaga's answer to Givenchy casting Adriana Lima last season.