PARIS (AP) -- Hemlines may rise and fall, but the color black is always in fashion.

As dark clouds and rain settled over Paris on Wednesday, the catwalks were flooded in a sea of black, or as they say in fashion-speak: ink, charcoal, ebony and onyx.

French designer Christian Lacroix said his parade of bubble skirts worn with feather tiaras stemmed from a painting by Spanish artist Diego Velazquez, part of a major retrospective he saw on a visit to London last November.

"Black is a marvelous color," he told reporters. "In Dutch or Spanish old master paintings, black is everywhere, in the center."

Lacroix, who this year celebrates the 20th anniversary of his house, showed the tiny new version of his trademark puffball skirt with opaque black hose and flat metallic leather boots laden with pearls and studs.

Standouts of his autumn-winter collection included a bronze embroidered leather coat with a sculptural maroon satin back that was bunched at the hem.

A female animal rights protester briefly disrupted the show by jumping on the catwalk naked to demonstrate against the use of fur, but she was bundled off by security guards. Lacroix defended his use of animal pelts, saying: "I'm no hypocrite. I love fur."

Though his show invitation featured a Rorschach inkblot design, normally used for psychological evaluations, the designer said he was feeling great since the takeover of his brand by the Falic Group, a U.S. duty free retailer, two years ago.

Lacroix is determined to prove that he is not just a master of red carpet couture, such as the pale gold dress that Helen Mirren wore to accept her Oscar for best actress on Sunday.

The new collection will bow in the company's flagship store, scheduled to open in Manhattan next fall, and he hopes it will spearhead needed growth in its more accessible ready-to-wear division.

"I feel free and so happy and so light that I'm ready for the ready-to-wear battle," Lacroix announced.

Greek-born designer Sophia Kokosalaki showed pleated satin dresses molded into three-dimensional folds that were inspired by the sculpted books of French artist Brig Laugier.

The collection was the first under new owner Renzo Rosso, the Italian entrepreneur best known for founding Diesel jeans.

"Fresh, modern and totally new," is how Rosso described his 34-year-old protege. "I think that Sophia can be part of the new upcoming culture of luxury brands."

Though Kokosalaki moved toward more elaborate materials, with padded leather trench coats and shaggy Mongolian lamb shrugs, the essence of her brand remained unchanged.

She took her bow wearing a T-shirt with the name of the punk band Black Flag and the slogan: "Black is everywhere."

"It's just a color I like because it's an attitude as well," Kokosalaki told The Associated Press. "It's practical for me, that's all. When you don't have the time to find the right color sock or the right shoe: black!"

Italian designer Riccardo Tisci is known as fashion's resident Goth, so it was no surprise to see models step out on a set clouded with church incense in outfits fit for a funeral.

Long black skirts with fishtail hems were topped with Empire-waisted pea coats. Wide-legged sailor pants came with slim black or navy officer's jackets embellished with gold buttons, oversized studs or little anchors.

Givenchy, famed for dressing film legend Audrey Hepburn, offered modern variations on the little black dress in the shape of sleeveless shifts made from curved panels of fabric that wrapped around the body like a flower petal.

Thigh-high black dominatrix boots with studded seams provided a kinky edge.

Tisci has received mixed reviews since taking over Givenchy two years ago, though celebrities like Naomi Watts, Heidi Klum and Eva Green are fans of his work. This highly commercial collection should bring his talent to a wider audience.