PARIS (REUTERS) - Christian Dior brought fun and a touch of fairytale to the start of Paris Fashion week with a collection featuring multicoloured dragon motifs and glittering bodices reminiscent of mosaics.

In a grotto-style hall assembled for the show and decorated with fragments of mirrors, Dior's creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri reasserted her stamp on the French fashion house on the one-year anniversary of her arrival.

The decor echoed the bold-coloured figurative sculptures of late French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle, one of the inspirations for the collection.

Models wore an array of bright coloured stripes combined with see-through, flowing skirts, while the washed-out denim outfits, black-and-white checkered prints and baker boy style caps sported by some also gave the collection a playful 1960s air.

"I think that I want to support the girls, especially the young girls that look (at) fashion, to have an idea of fashion (as) more playful.
There are many women that sometimes believe that it's very difficult to make what they really like and so I think to give this example of Niki de Saint Phalle is positive," Chiuri told reporters after presenting the fashion house's spring-summer 2018 show.

Chiuri, the first female creative director at Dior, came from Valentino and presented her first collection last September for the label, which is part of luxury goods specialist LVMH and is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.

The week of shows all around the city runs until Oct 3.