A MAN with a funny accent is being hailed as the greatest talent in a decade at the London Designer Collections, which have just ended.
Alexander McQueen turns out to be a master tailor with a dazzling imagination. His show at the Royal Horticultural Halls was one of the strangest ever seen, drawing a crowd of 800. They all seemed greatly taken by the moth like creatures swishing their way through a water garden. The models descended a staircase and then walked through water. The beaded and embroidered flapper dresses stood up to it well, the satin catsuits less so. Clearly this was all about insects; fabrics so delicate and transparent, the shapes so extraordinary, the effect more sinuous than sensuous.
Clements Ribeiro called some of his collection, "Rambling Rose" and another, "Old Havana". It was helpful having names like that to work around, meaning frills, flounces and ruffles and gorgeous faded colours.
There was something of the gipsy in the swirl of skirts, the low cut tops. But the fabrics made this anything but quaint and ethnic.
There wasn't much substance to John Rocha's collection - but lots of inspiration. Rocha captured all the main points: catsuits, long shorts, hipster trousers, shapely, bare tops and endless shifts in the palest colours. All of which could apply to Ally Capelli no whose fabrics shone and glistened.
Of course there's no need to get carried away because sharp tailoring in opaque materials is still around, being used by Paul Costelloe and best with check and plain linens (both for men or women).