PARIS  –  French designer Julien Fournie will celebrate his 50th birthday on Tuesday during Paris’s Haute Couture Week, with the circus-themed show set to underline his enduring creativity. In a sector that has become more subdued following the loss of icons like Thierry Mugler and Karl Lagerfeld, Fournie continues to believe in fashion as a spectacle. The event, called “First Circus”, will take place at the Mogador theatre in central Paris, with 1,600 invites, including surprise guests. It’s a major investment for an independent label that must manage its resources.  “I’m not one of those so-called cursed designers who lack ideas. On the contrary, I’ve got about 30 collections in the works in my sketchbooks,” Fournie told News Wire at his studio in the 10th district of Paris. “It’s more the lack of funds that prevents me from creating more,” he lamented.

Tuesday’s show will feature around 30 creations, including menswear for the first time. Last year, Fournie caused a sensation at the Mogador with a tribute to the “vamp” woman to mark the 15th anniversary of his fashion house.

Elsewhere during Haute Couture week, all eyes will be on the Dior show at the Rodin Museum on Monday which could be the last by Maria Grazia Chiuri.  The Italian’s eight-year stint as creative director of women’s collections is thought by observers to be coming to an end, with British designer Jonathan Anderson, currently at Loewe, tipped to replace her.