Is fashion the new Hollywood or what?

Designers behaving badly, official statements issued, endless speculation about replacements. Is fashion the new Hollywood or what? At the second half of Paris Fashion Week, which ended Wednesday, the Twitterverse was still on fire with rumors about who will succeed John Galliano at Dior, why Balmain's Christophe Decarnin was AWOL and who is making Kate Middleton's wedding dress. In between, there was a lot of fine fashion. Here's some of it.

CHANEL

Karl Lagerfeld went from his spring-summer show's manicured gardens last year to the mean streets, steaming asphalt and all.

With the Cure's "The Forest" on the soundtrack, Stella Tennant set the tone for the glam grunge collection, opening the show in a terrific-looking salt 'n' pepper boucle cape over a red cardigan, black silk crepe leggings and biker boots.

The silhouette was relaxed, schlumpy even, which meant loose-fitting jeans with houndstooth cuffs or distressed leggings, under Chanel's signature boxy houndstooth jackets or long, chunky knit cardigans.

Trousers were rolled up over low-heeled black satin pumps and worn with cropped cardigans over long blazers, for a cool layered look.

The new bag was a tougher version of the 2.55, sans quilting, and with a chunkier chain. And fans of Chanel cosmetics will be interested to know that the new nail polish shade for fall is a metallic gray called "Granite."

HAIDER ACKERMANN

Haider Ackermann is the name on everyone's lips. The Colombian-born, Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts-educated designer has been showing in Paris since 2002. But only recently has the buzz reached a roar.

He won the Swiss Textile Award and last year was invited to be the guest designer at Pitti W, the women's wear counterpart to the Pitti Uomo menswear fair in Florence.

In November, Ackermann got a stamp of approval from Karl Lagerfeld, who told an interviewer that Ackermann was the only designer he could imagine succeeding him at Chanel.

And in Paris, Ackermann was considered to be a top contender to head Dior, post-Galliano.

The collection represented draping at its most artful, using silks so richly colored and light-reflective they could have jumped out of a Renaissance painting. Not that this was the goddess-like draping of yore; instead it had a modern edge and a sexual charge.

The silhouette was long and languid, with oxblood, emerald green and midnight blue silk wrapping the figure with such fluidity that it looked as if the clothes were dripping off the body.

Floor-sweeping coats in black silk or white boucle came with cape backs, or trains, over long, narrow skirts.

Meanwhile, a green mohair sweater, wound around the body and slipping seductively off the shoulder, topped a burnished, brick-colored sequin skirt with cutouts baring flashes of skin.

Next, he managed to bring a new level of elegance to pants. Boucle and stovepipe-thin, they were the foundation for asymmetrical, long-and-short drapey dresses and coats, cinched with extra-wide leather belts. And indeed, there was a whiff of Chanel to the look — Chanel in 10 years perhaps.

Other pants were full-cut and jewel-toned, one pair in deep green under a liquidy burgundy silk top with a halter neck and a scarfy end left trailing.

JOHN GALLIANO

There was a big crowd at the John Galliano label's presentation, held at a private mansion on Paris' chichi Avenue Foch, because there was a lot of curiosity, morbid and otherwise. The designer's career went down in flames during the last two weeks. He was dismissed from his post as creative director for Dior after he was arrested on suspicion of making anti-Semitic remarks to patrons at a Paris bar and a video surfaced documenting a separate incident.

He issued an apology, was charged by police under France's anti-Semitism laws and departed the country for rehab — all before Dior's formal runway show.

By the time the show for the designer's own label rolled around, everyone wanted to see the clothes, which were reportedly left for the house to finish in Galliano's absence.

The presentation was a lot more low-key and, frankly, more dignified, than Galliano's usual shows, which are often held at night in raw studio spaces on the outskirts of Paris. There was no dry ice or fake snow. There were no gimmicks at all, save for the trays of mini madeleines that waiters passed around.

During several mini-shows, held every 20 minutes or so, models walked slowly through the gilded rooms, striking poses for guests, who included press and buyers. There was a significantly smaller number of looks than usual, only about two dozen.

The format allowed for a close-up look at the clothes, including a stunning sheer black Deco beaded gown with feather trim and a pale green kimono coat with fur cuffs.

Pencil skirts, colorful print blouses with open backs and soft coats, one in a ribbed cream wool with a fur collar, had Galliano's signature 1930s-'40s flair. And there was at least one nod to his more subversive side — a black rubber trench coat.