Paris Fashion Week is usually about the fashion taking to the runway, the models walking the catwalk and of course the A-List sat front row - but Karl Lagerfeld put that all to one side at the Chanel Spring/Summer 15 show and staged a protest.

Cara Delevingne leads the fashion protest at Chanel
Cara Delevingne leads the fashion protest at Chanel

The feminist march couldn't be timelier as Emma Watson helps lead the march with her recent UN speech about the HeForShe campaign for gender equality - in fact a lone male model carried a placard stating with HeForShe written on it.

Karl Lagerfeld is not one to do things by halves and he topped last season's Chanel Supermarket with Boulevard Chanel - an entire Parisian neighbourhood inside the Grand Palais, complete with drains and puddles.

The finale saw Cara Delevingne lead the stylish march, shouting into a Chanel quilted loudspeaker, 'What do we want?' followed by 'When do we want it?' with other models chanting 'NOW!'

Placards filled with feminist slogans like 'History is Her Story', 'Make Fashion, Not War', 'Women's rights are more than alright' and 'Ladies First' were carried by the models, including Kendall Jenner, Gisele Bundchen, Georgia May Jagger, Joan Smalls and Lindsey Wixon - amongst many others.

Gisele makes her return to the runway
Gisele makes her return to the runway

But did Karl's protest have the right effect?

The Vagenda Team on Twitter asked whether or not the Chanel show actually used the word feminism - but came to the conclusion that it's a step in the right direction.

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett wrote on the Guardian: "Lagerfeld's show may not have shaken my feminist foundations, but if it makes one young girl feel comfortable using the term, then surely that's something - at least, it is if she understands its real meaning."

It's a step in the right direction and certainly got people talking, that's for sure.

Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne leave the Chanel show with their placards
Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne leave the Chanel show with their placards

by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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