Eagle-eyed Chanel fans will have noticed an important absence from yesterday's show at Paris Fashion Week.
Claudia Schiffer - a long-time Karl Lagerfeld muse - was not even sitting on the front-row - let alone walking down the atmospheric, apocalypse-inspired catwalk as many would have wished.
The supermodel has a couple of excuses for staying away. She has astonishingly sworn to never step on a runway again, and had some last-minute work to do on her debut cashmere collection which launched this week, also in Paris.
The first excuse takes a little explaining. Claudia has gone on record saying that 'nothing, definitely' could persuade her to model clothes at a fashion show again.
'Nobody believes me but I'm very shy,' Claudia told Vogue.
She admitted to being 'much better in small groups of people than on a stage with everybody looking at me.
'I understood that I had to do it when I was modelling but now, since I don't have to do it, I'd rather not.'
Asked why she kept strutting for so long, the model replied: 'Designers are very clever at trying to persuade me to do it each season and it's flattering that they do, but nothing would change my mind.'
Claudia was launched on the international stage by Chanel's German designer, Lagerfeld, and made her catwalk debut with the label.
She starred in 14 Chanel advertising campaigns including spring/summer 2010's, shot in Buenos Aires, and was sad to be missing the fashion label's latest show.
'I always love to go, but I'm going to be too busy with the collection,' said the 40-year-old, adding that she would rather be putting the finishing touches on cashmere collection.
'I want to meet all the press and buyers personally - it's that kind of project.'
This collection, produced with German luxury cashmere company Iris von Arnim, is the first fashion design venture for the model who has appeared on more than 500 magazine covers.
Designing the first clothes was 'a little intimidating,' Claudia says, because she is no good at drawing.
'I'm afraid it looks like something my six-year-old drew, but luckily the people I’m working with could figure out what I'm trying to do.'
The cardigans, dresses and jumpers, in neutral greys, black, navy and beige, are intended to allow women to feel 'effortlessly chic.'
'I have 15 minutes to get dressed in the morning before taking the children to school, Claudia told Vogue. 'I want to throw on clothes but still look chic, then I want to go from school to a meeting and then out for dinner by only changing a handbag or a necklace or something.
'If I have a choice between reading the kids a story or changing my clothes, I’d rather read the story.
'Plus, I wanted to cater to the unpredictable weather in England. I want it to be really versatile – if I’ve been up all night with the baby I want to throw on something lovely and soft that makes me feel better – there’s nothing transparent so you don’t have to worry about what slip to wear underneath, or have to change your bra because the strap might show.
'I want the quality to be absolutely key and I want to go slowly – but there might be a catwalk show at some point in the future.'
Just don't expect Claudia to be modelling in it.
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