Vintage boudoir in Sharon Wauchob’s Paris collection

The Louvre Oratory, where the funerals of both Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu took place, was the historic location in Paris yesterday for Irish designer Sharon Wauchob’s spring-summer collection.

From the opening line-up – softly belted trousers and camisoles in silk, bias cut dresses edged with lace – this was an invigorated study of vintage boudoir looks and refined embellishment that celebrated craftsmanship and details like embroidery, fringing and beading.

Even the gladiator sandals were decorated with pearls, while mules were worked in black patent straw.

Lingerie as outerwear is nothing new, and some pieces blurred the borders between the two, but long dresses with laced peek-a-boo bib fronts and Peter Pan collars showed how sheer but modest has its own subtle allure.

Jackets were ornately embroidered, the best being those that fluttered over lace skirts in spotted silk or zigzag embroideries of black/grey and white.

The overall effect was light, feminine and romantic. “I love the idea of lingerie, but I don’t want [the clothes] to be just feminine,” Wauchob said backstage. “I like them to have an edge and be contemporary.”

Roland Mouret – who created the famous Galaxy dress of 2005 – is to launch his first store in New York shortly, at 952 Madison Avenue, to which his collection was dedicated.

Elaborate

A shapely emerald green shift opened his show; it closed with a purple off-the-shoulder number – both bearing his signature back zips.

In between were bright colour-block playsuits and circle skirts with sporty capelet tops in honeycomb silks and waffle cottons – all summery and lighthearted, although elaborate in cut.

At Carven, where designer Guillaume Henry is making his mark – it's one of Brown Thomas's best-selling brands – a monochrome palette with snakeskin and sporty stripes made for a lively, youthful line-up of tent coats, tunics and dresses with Chinese-style prints and high collars.