Charlize Theron and Sean Penn dazzle Dior at Paris Fashion Week

CHARLIZE Theron and Sean Penn triggered a frenzy, Emma Watson’s unusual heels stunned and JLaw was fashionably late. Welcome to Paris Fashion Week.

Powerhouse ... (from left) Marie-Chantal of Greece, Sean Penn, Charlize Theron and Bernard Arnault attend the Christian Dior show as part of Paris Fashion Week — Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2014-2015 in Paris, France.

THEY’RE a couple rarely seen in public, together only since February.

So when Academy Award-winning power-couple Charlize Theron and Sean Penn walked into Christian Dior’s Monday show, holding hands and sat prominently on the front row, it’s not only the couture gowns that dazzled guests.

Theron and Penn triggered a frenzy as they arrived together to the Rodin Museum show as part of Paris Fashion Week.

GALLERY: Paris Fashion Week glamour

Inseparable ... Sean Penn and Charlize Theron showing affection at the Christian Dior 2014/2015 Haute Couture Fall-Winter collection fashion show in Paris.

Thirty-eight-year-old Theron — a brand ambassador for Dior — wore a gold shimmering fringed cocktail dress similar to the one she appears in for Dior’s now-iconic “J’Adore” perfume advert.

She and 53-year-old Penn, who wore a black Dior suit with open shirt, chatted with LVMH boss Bernard Arnault.

Golden girl ... Sean Penn and Charlize Theron, wearing a shimmering fringed cocktail dress similar to the one she appears in for Dior’s now-iconic “J’Adore” perfume advert.

That held up the show, but that didn’t seem to help another Oscar-winning guest who was running late.

Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence ended up having to catch a repeat of the show later in the day because her flight was delayed.

Super sexy ... Charlize Theron and companion Sean Penn making a stunning entrance at the Dior show in Paris.

Wearing shoes that appeared to have virtually no heels, Emma Watson presumably relied on a little Hogwarts magic to keep her balance at the show.

The 24-year-old actor stepped out in an asymmetric, one-shoulder black and white dress but it was her unusual shoes that caught the eye.

From the front, it seemed as if she was wearing sleek white stilettos, but Miss Watson’s choice of footwear was somewhat more adventurous.

Sleek ... Emma Watson stepped out in an asymmetric, one-shoulder black and white dress

The Harry Potter star’s quirky shoes featured a cut-out wedge heel and looked as though they would have tested the balance of a supermodel.

EYE CATCHING: Emma Watson’s perilous shoes

France’s former First Lady Valerie Trierweiler, meanwhile, took politics to the catwalk, using couture week as a platform to raise awareness for the missing Nigerian schoolgirls in the latest example of red-carpet activism.

Watch your step ... Emma Watson’s unusual heels caught the attention of fashionados at the Christian Dior show in Paris.

The 49-year-old journalist sported a white T-shirt that read #BringBackOurGirls, a reference to the missing Nigerian schoolgirls who have still not been returned after their April kidnapping. It’s the latest example of the growing phenomenon of using celebrity events for a good cause, seen prominently at May’s Cannes Film Festival.

“There are 220 missing. It’s been two and a half months since these young girls were taken,” she said.

Fashionable late ... Jennifer Lawrence caught a repeat of the Christian Dior show because her flight was delayed.

In May, First Lady Michelle Obama made the girls an overnight cause célèbre when she tweeted an image of herself holding a poster that read #BringBackOurGirls, demanding help for the girls captured by extremist group Boko Haram.

“Two and a half months ago the world spoke about these young girls, including Michelle Obama. But now no one is,” she said.

“I’m using the media here to publicise this. Until they’re freed I won’t stop campaigning,” she added.

Chic ... Jennifer Lawrence wore black and white for the occasion.

Back on the catwalk Raf Simons’ latest adventure for Dior — his most masterful yet — was summed up as “encyclopedic”.

Set in a circular ballroom catwalk, the Belgian designer ambitiously channelled some four centuries of style — with a fashion-forward twist he called “forward and back.”

Simons’ journey started with 18th century dresses fit for an avant-garde Marie Antoinette.

Sending a message ... Valerie Trierweiler, former companion of French President Francois Hollande, wearing a shirt reading "Bring back our girls" poses for photographers before Dior's show.

Voluminous exaggerated French ball gowns in pale jacquard silk were made contemporary with trapeze structuring.

The golden age of Elsa Schiaparelli — the ‘30s and ‘40s — were revisited in the second outing for the age-old house, which relaunched last year to mixed reviews.

Raf Simons’ latest adventure for Dior ... summed up as “encyclopedic”.

This season, designer Marco Zanini tried hard to emulate the eccentricity of the house founder, whose business folded following World War II, by mixing up contrasting styles or deceptive material.

And it was a floral and optical ode to the fifties for Italian designer Valli.

Step back in time ... Raf Simons ambitiously channelled some four centuries of style in his latest collection for Dior.

Alongside big bow hair ribbons, retro monochrome stripes plastered vertically, horizontally and diagonally gave energy to loose-fitting sheaths and produced many beautiful plays on transparent tulle skirts.

Flashes of bright colours, like a vivid yellow waist band, gave the retro looks a trendy lift.

Fit for an avant-garde Marie Antoinette ... a creation by Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons for Dior's Fall-Winter 2014-2015 Haute Couture collection.