Pat Crowley, the acknowledged grand dame of Irish fashion, launched a summery collection in pastel colours and luxurious silks and cottons yesterday.
It is quite something to catch up with this fast mover, elegantly limping from a skiing accident, wearing tight brocade trousers and a classic jacket and due in New York in a day or two. But caught she was and her message, as always, is smart dressing with a long life.
The philosophy here is that the suit, suitable for a wedding guest or a day at the races can be reassembled and worn casually, or at any rate differently. So the apparently prim rib silk coat and dress, beautifully cut to skim the body, can work in many ways.
It is all about discreet opulence: silk, cotton and linens come in pale pinks, blues and buttery yellows for body-skimming dresses - delicate little numbers these - while sax blue slub silk is a more mature version and comes with a long jacket.
Jackets here are all slightly fitted and long, a good style for wearing with either dresses or trousers.
Among dressier pieces are those in brocades, the jackets fastened with big decorative buttons. These are rather domineering to wear, which makes the plain, pale grey woven silk twosome a safer option.
This is a typical Pat Crowley collection, full of subtle diversity, classics enlivened by discreet fashionable touches, and all the handcrafted workmanship that makes them unique.
Made-to-measure suits start at £750 and crepe trouser suits are £540.
The designer proves again that she is well able for the demands of a choosy clientele, and it just remains to her to persuade them to loosen up and try using the clothes in different ways.
The response, however, to that is often: "Oh I couldn't do that, Pat". But usually she is persuasive and has her way.