Chaos erupted on the Paris catwalk on Friday as Hollywood star Nicole Kidman arrived to launch her promotional campaign for Chanel's legendary No 5 perfume, setting off a paparazzi stampede. Kidman has reunited with "Moulin Rouge" director Baz Luhrmann to shoot a two-minute film in which she plays an actress who flees photographers at a movie premiere and ends up romancing a handsome stranger, played by Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro.

Kidman's appearance was the highlight of a week short on front-row stars, and it took 20 security guards to get the snappers to disperse. The celebrity worship continued on the runway, where models preened like film stars in the glare of the flashbulbs.

Opening the show were the women who originally coined the term "supermodel" in the 1990s - Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Nadja Auermann and Kristen McMenamy, wearing glamorous gowns that were perfect for the Oscars. A black velvet dress featured a plunging back set off with a diamond pendant spelling out the number five. The perfume, with its distinctive square bottle and stopper, reached mythical status when Marilyn Monroe announced it was all she wore in bed.