Irish Times writers review the latest fashion collections, launched in Dublin and London.
Dublin:
A breath of summer was evident at the Brown Thomas preview fashion collection yesterday with numerous vibrantly-coloured dresses on display.
The dress is the "must have" for the season and designers showed a polished and elegant range featuring plunging necklines and varying hemlines. From Chanel's classic jackets to Stella McCartney's floating dresses, the theme was one of sophisticated simplicity.
Pleats featured largely in a number of ranges including Hermes, designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier, which included pleated silk-jersey dresses, and Chloe's pleated and shorter-length skirts in nude tones and applique broderie anglais.
Prada also presented linear cuts and knife-sharp pleats but with dresses in light colours and with stencilled patterns.
Vivid yellows, purples and reds on flower prints were the feature of Cavalli. Again, there were deep necklines and hour-glass silhouettes.
Many designers paired old with new, such as Balenciaga who showed Victorian details and Persian prints, rocco ruffles and aquatic lace.
Chiffon, organza and silk were adopted by many of the designers, including Temperley and Missoni, in keeping with the overall feminine look.
London:
The UK's most successful designer, Paul Smith, who netted a profit of £24 million in 2004 and who celebrates his 60th birthday in July, launched his new "Men Only" autumn/winter collection for women at London Fashion Week yesterday.
"It draws from the strength of classic gentlemen's tailoring", he said as a fleet of models, hands in pockets, strode down the catwalk of the Royal Horticultural Hall in Crombie coats, front-pleated trousers and lace-up brogues.
The clothes had the restraint and colour palette of traditional menswear, but there was a certain quirkiness and irreverence to the boyish drop-waists, the car mechanic jumpsuits and the pefectly tailored tight jackets that are quintessentially Smith.
Margaret Howell's small but well-judged collection, using heritage fabrics and knitwear in earthy tones, was understated luxury at its best. Her quiet combinations had deceptive ease; such as a cinched navy duffel or Aran knit worn over a full skirt and strawberry suede ankle boots, a bold red check scarf adding extra flourish. Bowler hats and lace mufflers gave the show a jaunty air.
She and John Rocha may have little in common, but both play to their individual strengths and Rocha's monochrome collection was equally sure and lovely in its own way.
Beguiling waifs in milky white pinafores with drawstring hems wore demure black crochet snoods, caped crochet shrugs and stub-toed shoes.
Elasticated hems, a recurring motif, softened the lines of billowing sack dresses or cindery taffeta skirts. Adroit styling worked best when a thin black polo dress under ultra-fine chiffon had a hard little black knit keeping it all in place.
Pinafores and pantaloons came in grey flannel or black velvet, fabrics we'll see much of next winter.
Restraint is not a word that can be applied to Julien Macdonald, the Welsh designer known for ostentatious luxury and profligate use of fur, who held his show in London's Freemasons' Hall, with 24-year-old US hotel heiress Paris Hilton leading a model line-up that included Erin O'Connor, Elizabeth Jagger and Jasmine Guinness.
Wearing £2 million worth of diamonds and spilling out of a mini made of gold crystal rope, Hilton's entrances were greeted with whoops from the audience, though later that night in Mayfair she was plastered with flour bombs by animal rights protesters.