Lily Cole goes for all-leather Avengers style catsuit for Paris fashion show

By Daily Mail Reporter

Fashion Avenger: Lily Cole looks strikingly like The Avengers character Emma Peel as she walks the catwalk in Paris

It looked more like an audition for a revival of The Avengers than a fashion show.

Dressed in an all-leather black catsuit, supermodel Lily Cole appeared to take inspiration from the character Mrs Peel in the cult 1960s TV show.


She wore the outfit while strutting the Paris catwalk yesterday to showcase the latest collection from Jean Paul Gaultier for the giant French fashion house Hermes.


Tunnel vision: Lily opened Jean-Paul Gaultier's Fall/Winter 2010/11 women's ready-to-wear fashion collection for Hermes standing in the middle of a black and white striped tunnel


The same look was the trademark of the actress Diana Rigg when she played the character of spy Emma Peel in the long-running TV show.

The role was reprised by Uma Thurman in a 1998 Hollywood film remake.

The character was always known as 'Mrs Peel' to her partner in espionage, John Steed - played by actor Patrick Macnee in the TV show.


Sleek: The tight black catsuit look was started by Diana Rigg (left) in TV programme The Avengers before it was recreated by Uma Thurman in a 1998 film


And indeed, the top hat and umbrella sported by Lily Cole yesterday at the Paris Fashion Week show could also be a nod to the accessories carried by Mr Steed in The Avengers.

But designer Mr Gaultier claimed the inspiration for the look was a series of other British icons, including James Bond.

He said the collection was 'very English, inspired by The City, bankers clothes revamped for the women who work there', adding: 'It's a kind of Mrs. Bond, a Bond-ette.'


Hand-in-hand: Lily walks the catwalk with designer Jean-Paul Gaultier at the end of his show


Awkward: Lily and Jean-Paul attempt a kiss on the cheek at the end of the show, but end up rubbing noses instead

Miss Cole, 21, was taking a break from her studies at Cambridge University, where she is reading History of Art.

She began the show standing inside a black-and-white striped tunnel, which was apparently modelled on the look of Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange.


Kate Moss is also in Paris for fashion week, and was spotted wearing a nautical outfit as she left the Ritz Hotel yesterday


The supermodel looked happy and refreshed as she left the hotel to go shopping


source: dailymail