PARIS (AFP) - Kim Kardashian showed off a new, platinum blonde hairdo at the Paris Fashion Week on Thursday as she watched the shows with her husband, rapper Kanye West.

The attention-grabbing makeover of the usually brunette American reality television star overshadowed the 2015 autumn collections unveiled by fashion houses Balmain and Lanvin, with photographers pushing to get snaps of her dyed hair.

Kardashian and West were joined by her mother Kris Jenner at the Balmain show.

Kardashian's transformation into a blonde electrified celebrity-watchers on Twitter, where some fans gushed that she looked stunning, others suggested that she looked better before - and detractors snarked that she and actor Jared Leto, who also turned up to the Balmain event with new platinum locks, were exchanging beauty tips.

Nonetheless, Kardashian's bleached hair easily became the most talked-about fashion statement at the Paris shows, which is no mean feat at an event where designers often try to outdo each other to get a slice of the limelight.

Rick Owens, who created the biggest buzz at the last Paris Fashion Week in January by sending male models down the catwalk with their penises hanging out, trod more quietly on Thursday by presenting a relatively mild women's ready-to-wear collection.

Amid the ankle-length, structured outfits in brown and black, the most remarkable feature was the sprayed-on gold masks worn by some of the models.

For theatrical flourishes, fashionistas had to go to the spectacle by Indian designer Manish Arora. Flashy red and fuchsia get-ups that looked to be fantasy battledress dreamed up by manga artists lit up the catwalk.

Arora emphasised that the collection was a Bollywood take on Game Of Thrones by having the American fantasy series' "Winter is Coming" motto sewn onto some pieces and its theme music remixed as part of the soundtrack.