Amputee model Aimee Mullins becomes International face of LOreal

Remember,Im hauling around an 80 pound bag of legs everywhere I go, she said.

At the event,Mullins concealed her legs in a sleek black Alexander McQueen slack suit. She was a close friend and muse for the British designer,who stunned the fashion world including many at the lunch two years ago by taking his own life.

I miss him.

He was beautiful,romantic,a soft,gooey pudding, she said.

Mullins walked for the maverick McQueen in 1999 and is said to have inspired some of his work.

She described an extraordinary life,barely troubled by the amputation of both legs at the age of one because of a condition called hemimelia,or missing fibula bones.

My parents let me experience the world as it is.

At eight,I had prosthetic legs so good at being waterproof,they were buoyant. Id go off the high dive at the community pool and come straight up,legs first! she said.

LOreal closed the unusual lunch with a taster of fashions by seven top designers White Suede,Morrison,Aurelio Costarella,Megan Park,Gorman,Magdalena Velevska and Ginger and Smart.

They represent brands now preparing for the festivals highlight Paris Runway show series beginning tomorrow night. The series huge Peninsula venue on Central Pier,Docklands,is an exotic setting for almost 80 winter collections,including the silky,glamorous gowns of designer Gwendolynne Burkin.