PARIS, Oct 8, 2002/ FW/ --- In the wee hours of Tuesday morning Paris time, just as the soirées that mark Fashion week were winding down, a terse President Bush, hold up in Cincinnati, drawled out another in a series of speeches aimed at making his war reality.

In this installment, he was emboldened to present himself as the new JFK.

And later in the morning, Valentino sent out a magnificent collection, a wonderful mélange of contemporary and classic elegance, all wrapped with his own message.

The backdrop of the show was an enlarged version of the painting Camouflage (1986) by Andy Warhol.

He told reporters backstage: "No war, just War-hol" And with this play on words he explained that the only camouflage that he wanted to see was on the runway of a fashion show.

The man who once dressed Jackie O., has lost none of his graceful touch.

And it was almost freaky watching the breezy collection pass down a turquoise runway, the color of the edge water at St. Tropez, and to hear the voices of the past still calling, while present reality in the fall of this sad year trudges on.

Nonetheless, there was a relevance to it all, for nostalgia is the best cure for these distracted times.

And beauty is timeless, insuppressible, and persistent.

Valentino has the gift of making women beautiful, whether they are wrapped in floating chiffon with prints resembling an abstract canvas speckled in colors, or in a pleated white chiffon skirt that billowed like sails on the Mediterranean.

There were luscious flowing scarves and beautifully fringed purses in black and white, and silk dresses painted with the primary colors of Matisse.

It was as if the salt air of the Riviera had permeated the airy collection, whether in a wardrobe for a shimmering summer evening, or in a sculpted white day suit.

From camouflage to evening gowns, it was all superb.

As the applause roared, the master couturier appeared on the arms of Giselle Bundchen, and took a long and well-deserved bow.

Valentino

Valentino

Valentino