Paris, Jul 10, 2001/ FWD/ --- Like so many designers this couture season, Christian Lacroix presented an ethnically eclectic collection.

He grafted cut-out appliqués (that looked like they were lifted from Carpathian village costumes) onto the skirt of a ballgown, did ruched peasant blouses, even glammed into Bob Marley territory with sequined Rastafarian headgear.

But though everything seemed hip to a globe-hopping aesthetic, the collection never really left the Western Hemisphere.

And it never ventured beyond the European confines of lace-up bustiers, short wasp-waisted jackets with balloon sleeves or Lacrucian pouf skirts, updated with metallic lace pants.

There was, of course, Lacroix's usual penchant for exterior decorating -- all those colors and textures and baubles -- and his usual struggle to balance the lavishness with some levity.

There was the asymmetric insouciance of a frilled and furbelowed sleeve here, a single sparkling epaulette there.

A sense too of the flesh underneath, in layers of sheer lace and the seductive cling of a long bias-cut skirt.

But that was as racy as it got.

By the time Alek Wek came out, upholstered in yards of quilted satin and lamé and spider-web netting, it was as plain as the gold veil on her face that we were still in the land of Lacroix, with all its period drama and Andalusian pomp.

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture