IRISH designer Peter O'Brien's autumn/winter collection for the French house of Rochas was presented too late during the Paris season to be included in last week's report on this page. But it deserves attention, not least for the delightful book of illustrations by O'Brien which was presented to guests at the event, held over dinner in the Villa Barclay off the Champs Elysee.
While the designer's abiding romanticism was evident in the clothes, his love of popular musicals came through in the names he gave successive outfits. A brilliant red panne velvet doublebreasted evening coat, for example, was called A Little Night Music" after Stephen Sondheim's show, while dresses were named after actresses such as Rosalind Russell, Gertrude Lawrence and Kay Thompson.
All of these and many more besides were shown in O'Brien's amusing colour drawings, a couple of which are reproduced here. While these illustrations cannot, obviously, give a true impression of the gorgeous fabrics used lots of silk georgette, chiffon and lace - they do convey the designer's whimsical delight in his work. And they make a refreshing change from a written list of items which is usually the best guests at a show can hope to receive.