91 shows and the jet-set Jenners: It's Paris Fashion Week

PARIS (AP) — Ninety-one fashion shows, talent from 24 different countries and Kris and Kendall Jenner landing in a jet to flashes from paparazzi: It's time for Paris Fashion Week.

Here are the highlights of the ready-to-wear spring-summer 2016 collections in Paris, where the first of nine days champions new talent.

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DEMOCRATIC FASHION (ALMOST)

The Paris ready-to-wear shows are famed for their elitism — welcoming in only a select few editors, buyers and celebrities.

But this year designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, via social media, put 100 tickets up for grabs so the public could come and see his Tuesday show. The eager fashion outsiders turned up in droves.

But old-school editors need not fear that their coveted seats would be taken — the 100 tickets were standing-room only. Fashion democracy has its limits.

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ANTHONY VACCARELLO

The designer who found international fame for dressing Gwyneth Paltrow in an ultra-revealing black gown on Harper's Bazaar and then was hired by Donatella Versace to head her Versus house, treated fashion insiders Tuesday to another three-course meal in glam sexuality.

Asymmetrical skirts, with panels flying off the thigh exposing the leg, were combined with heavy-duty jackets in safari colors. Stud buttons, shiny zippers and lapels also demanded attention.

Black sheer silk shirts had silvery scales and silk foulards fluttered delicately down, caressing the models' bodies and proving why Vaccarello is a red carpet favorite.

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A FINN IN PARIS

Making up one of the 24 different nationalities represented this season in Paris, Tuomas Merikoski of Finland made his debut on the ready-to-wear calendar as the designer for Aalto.

The low-key presentation mirrored the low-key, funky style of the clothes. Oversize pants, a hybrid of the cowboy chaps silhouette, came in pared-down white or vivid denim.

A trapeze-shaped knit sweater sported details like oval armholes and "AALTO" on the bust in psychedelic colors. Merikoski succeeded in finding a signature style for the brand.

Other newcomers to the Paris ready-to-wear runways included Nehera, Koche and Vetements.

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Thomas Adamson can be followed at www.twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP