Real women with curves at Louis Vuitton

French supermodel Laetitia Casta opened the show, which was channeling Christian Dior's iconic post-WWII New Look style, with nip-waisted jackets and ample skirts in dusty gray, powder pink and mauve hues.

Other runway stars, like Australia's Elle Macpherson - whose nickname "The Body" still rings true - and Dutch model Lara Stone, a size four, also rocked their womanly looks.

"I feel like a real woman who is glamorous, who's taking care of herself, who's not afraid of her body," said Czech-born model Karolina Kurkova in a backstage interview.

Wednesday's show was among her first since giving birth to a baby boy four months ago, she added.

The smash lineup of curvy models was a welcome change from the rail thin teenagers with bizarre postures and jerky gaits who dominate today's catwalks. The girls at Vuitton were the picture of refined elegance, strolling leisurely around a monumental fountain in the middle of the set.

Light streamed in through the plastic sheeting of the venue - a tent set up in a courtyard of the Louvre Museum. After a week of unseasonably nippy weather in Paris, the crowd of fashion insiders finally thawed out in the hothouse-like tent.