The autumn/winter 2004 collections, which opened in Paris yesterday, started a week that will see more than 80 catwalk presentations, associated exhibitions and events taking place in the French capital.
One of the first to show yesterday was the Northern Irish designer, Sharon Wauchob, a former Louis Vuitton consultant, who has been based in Paris for nearly 10 years and who launched her first collection here in the winter of 1998.
From Newtownstewart in Co Tyrone, Wauchob's reputation has been growing steadily internationally ever since, and last year she was elected to the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt à Porter, the first independent Irish designer to be admitted to the organisation that controls the catwalk schedules.
Her show took place in an art gallery in the Marais near where her studio is based and reflected her highly technical approach to design and individual style which could be described as avant garde luxury. Skintight trousers were cut in panels of dark colour, and overstitched, intricate jackets with decorative double lapels fell open prettily over bare breasts. Cardigans had curved buttoning and fine pink jersey tops draped over bare backs and stretch mini-skirts. There was a particular emphasis on the shoulder, with black feather shrugs or delicate puff sleeves in sheer black chiffon.
Wauchob has an ability to mix elements of sportswear and lingerie together, to incorporate elements of accessories such as zips, buckles and belts into garments in a way that is imaginative, detailed, at times very graceful and sexy, but always controlled. "My clothes are part accessory, part apparel," says the designer who insists on very exacting standards of manufacturing. Her style is not one easily copied.
Haider Ackermann is an up-and-coming Colombian-born, French designer trained in Belgium, a country steadily getting recognition for its significant fashion talent and with a considerable presence at Paris fashion week. This was a very different and original vision of femininity and from the moment the first model appeared in a grey suit striped with silver, flat lace-up shoes and spray-grey chignons, it was clear that this was more like a menswear collection for women.
There were dramatically different varieties of the trouser suit from a red satin number with rapier tight trousers to one in khaki wool with turned-up collar and divided skirt. An almost military severity governed the cut of some of the clothes, but it worked. Less tailored items included an oversize red knit worn with grey leggings and a most dramatic long black latex and net coat that looked like lace.
Drapery came into play with soft evening wear dresses that fell like togas but were finished with polo necks. No bare flesh here; these are bold clothes for strong, assertive women and there were cheers of approval at the end.
