Can we pause for a moment and ask: what cultural moment has every French designer experienced in the last few weeks that made them think “underwater theme” for next spring/summer?

Givenchy, Alexander McQueen and Chanel  all had mermaids on the brain — check out these pictures — which means next February store windows will be seascapes, and the next thing we know, we will all be dressing like Ariel (the Disney version, not the Shakespeare one), albeit with an apocalyptic edge. If you can imagine.

Givenchy by Chris Moore

McQueen by Chris Moore

Chanel by Chris Moore

I asked one colleague what he thought was going on, and he said “The Drowned World,” suggesting the current environmental crisis had designers thinking about JG Ballard’s 1962 novel about a post-global-disaster world over-run by floods and fantasy.

It could be true, although it’s hard to imagine Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld, Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci and Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton all sharing the same summer reading list.

You never know, though.