Colourful fish and French floor covering for VIPs (3,6)
I believe the answer is:
red carpet
'floor covering for vips' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'colourful fish and french' is the wordplay.
'colourful' becomes 'red' (similar in meaning).
'fish' becomes 'carp' (carp is a kind of fish).
'and french' becomes 'et' ('and' in French).
'red'+'carp'+'et'='RED CARPET'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for red carpet that I've seen before include "Welcoming strip" , "walked over by celebrities" , "base for celebrities" , "for star treatment" , "It is rolled out for VIPs" .)