Catwalk with a view on first day of Paris fashion

PARIS, France - Paris fashion week on Tuesday got off to a charmingly chaotic start with a rooftop catwalk show at which fashionistas played 'spot the model'.

Fashion watchers who trekked up the eight flights to the top of Paris's famed Galeries Lafayette department store were rewarded with clear views of the Eiffel Tower on a sunny September day.

But the models at Franco-Cambodian designer Christine Phung's first ever show were almost impossible to glimpse as they walked in a path hastily cleared among the milling crowd before being moved to an even less visible corner of the roof terrace.

"It was a lovely spot to hold a fashion show - and there was a great view of Paris - but unfortunately most people couldn't see anything (of the collection)," lifestyle blogger Marino Vizza told AFP.

Brought up in France by a Cambodian father and French mother, Phung's dual heritage is reflected in her use of printed silks.

Her spring/summer 2014 "Liquid Dilusion" collection featured a delicate palette of metallic grey, silver, white and ecru as well as black and ultramarine.

Looks inspired by "the possibilities of water" included billowing silk trousers teamed with a sheer halter neck top and pleated dresses and skirts.

Of around 10 looks in the collection, one was worn by a black model and two by Asian models.

The number of black models on the Paris catwalks can be expected to come under scrutiny this week following a blistering attack on the fashion world by models Naomi Campbell and Iman and model-turned-activist Bethann Hardison.

The trio earlier this month named a string of fashion houses who had used just "one or no models of colour" in recent collections and called for urgent action.

Tuesday is the first of nine days of women's ready-to-wear Paris fashion due to wrap up on October 2.