PARIS — As rain clouds gathered over Paris yesterday, fashion designers drew inspiration from nature for outfits intended to brave the elements next fall.

A French designer, Jean Paul Gaultier, fresh from dressing best-actress winner Marion Cotillard for the Oscars in a mermaid gown, delved further into fairy tale land in search of the big bad wolf.

From full-length foxes draped across the body to zebra-printed outercoats, this collection was all about fur.

“I am perfectly willing to use fake fur — and actually there is some in the collection — but some furs are totally inimitable,” Mr. Gaultier said after the show. “And I have to say that I eat meat.”

Mr. Gaultier provided plenty of status symbols, from the mink coats with rhinestone mesh panels to the power-shouldered pinstripe suits and the rows of pearl beading on swinging cocktail dresses.

An Italian model, Mariacarla Boscono, gave Little Red Riding Hood a naughty twist, pairing her flowing red silk cape with matching elbow-length leather gloves.

A Japanese designer, Dai Fujiwara, worked delicate shapes like bird wings and crystals into his collection for Issey Miyake, which was inspired by a wedding and a funeral.

It included a prototype of the gown he made for the wedding this week of a Finnish couple as part of an international design project. The sleeveless dress folds flat into a hexagon shape.

Models carrying wind chimes paraded in gray and black mourning suits woven with glistening strips, while a sequence of ethereal white dresses were made of disposable cloth.

Mr. Fujiwara said he was reacting to the recent death of a friend, whose funeral he felt was rushed. The care and attention he brought to this collection were a fitting homage.

British design duo Eley Kishimoto showcased the perfect solution to the drizzly weather in its window display at Cacharel’s flagship store on the Left Bank — a trench coat with a stripy cloud motif.

However, eager buyers will have to wait until fall to snap up their first collection for the historic French label, which is seeking a facelift for its 50th anniversary this year.

The print specialists — British designer Mark Eley and his Japanese partner Wakako Kishimoto — offered up everything from “good girl” duffle coats to flirty cocktail dresses in cute patterns including an Eiffel Tower sketch.

“It’s so obvious — we’re very simple people,” Mr. Eley joked.

“We wanted to kind of instigate some French coolness back into the brand so the domestic audience starts to re-appreciate it. If we can capture that, then the rest of the world will follow in the same way it did before,” he said.