PARIS (AFP, REUTERS) - The stars were aligned at Dior's haute couture show in Paris on Monday.

First, actress Natalie Portman - the face of Dior's Miss Dior perfume - was sitting in the front row, somewhat less stiffly than her Queen Padme persona from the Star Wars prequels.

Second was the spring-summer collection itself: all groovily Barbarella with fluorescent orange boots and skintight catsuits with flower-power patterns worn by models descending from a multi-level space-opera set in the gardens of Paris's Rodin Museum.

Third was David Bowie's 1972 Ziggy Stardust album on the sound system.

It was very retro space age.

"I was always thinking of the future for so many years and I was always anti-romanticising the past, but the past can be beautiful too," designer Raf Simons said.

The colourful garments, he said, incarnated "the romance of the 50s, with the experimentation of the 60s and the liberation of the 70s".

His ambition was for "something wilder, more sexual, strange and certainly more liberated for the haute couture and for women".

Bright, very bright colours, lines and swirls competed for attention on the outfits, which ranged from Dior's trademark thin-waisted, flouncy dresses to second skins to mid-thigh tunics with latex leggings.

This collection included lilac-coloured, low-cut boots; flashy blue or yellow, knee-high, vinyl boots; and boots with an empty rectangle shape of a heel with glittering crystals on the bottom.

Critics said this cemented the view that Simons was making his mark at the fashion house with his original shoe designs.

The VIP crowd included Chinese model-actress Angelababy and American model Marisa Berenson.

Christian Dior is one of the biggest fashion brands owned by the LVMH luxury goods empire.