Chocolate fashion show in Paris

On the stiletto heels of Paris Fashion Week, models will sashay down the catwalk enrobed in garb of an entirely different kind this week: cocoa.

Chocolate-covered ladies will model haute couture designs at the annual Salon de Chocolat show in Paris where chocolatiers and designers will illustrate chocolate trends against a baroque-burlesque backdrop.

Collaborations include chocolate house Cacao Barry, and visual designer Willy G, whose strapless dress is studded with macarons and profiteroles. The dress, says the designer, was inspired by the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl who, legend has it, brought cocoa to mankind. The Aztecs also traded cacao beans as currency.

French singer Juliette Katz will model the dress of tulle, taffeta and Aztec jewelry at the gala fashion show October 19. The dress will also be displayed every day at 5 pm beginning October 20 in a nightly fashion show for the public.

Other chocolatier and designer collaborations include Jean-Paul Hévin and designer Caroline Chuu for Aya, and Jacques Bellanger and Audrey Biarnais.

The Salon de Chocolat takes place in Paris between October 20 and 24.