NO-HEADLINE

Diary

To the untrained eye, the ceremony to swear in Jacques Chirac as President of France on the steps of the Elysee Palace last month was grand, dignified and smoothly executed. But the occasion has turned the world of French couturiers upside down. Reason? Madame Chirac, France's new first lady, had snubbed them and worn a suit by the Italian designer Valentino. That, at least, was the story doing the rounds at a grandiose drinks party hosted by the French champagne manufacturers Remi and Henri Krug last week at London's Berkeley Hotel.

"Madame Chirac was furious when, in the run-up to the elections, all the French couture houses invited Madame Balladur to their fashion shows, because they expected Edouard Balladur to win the elections. So when Chirac won she knew exactly how to get her revenge," explained a French grand dame excitedly. I called Valentino's office in Rome for corroboration. "I haven't heard that," said a spokeswoman, "but it was thumbs up for the Italians, wasn't it?"