Is Louise Kennedy moving in a new direction? Ireland's queen of crisp tailoring seems to have softened up this season with a new collection in which soft cuts and subdued colours come to the fore. Kennedy herself describes the range as "mellow, luxurious, rich and also very pretty," not always the first choice of adjectives when it comes to talking about her work. This time, however, the words are well-applied, especially to items such as a biscuit-hued cable-knit cashmere sweater worn over loose trousers in white jersey, or the latter fabric used for a long tunic dress on top of palazzo pants.

Cashmere sweaters are something of a Kennedy leitmotif this season, whether thrown casually over the shoulders or knitted around the waist. This understated luxury is epitomised by many other pieces in the collection including wonderful, unstructured linen-duster coats that stop just below the knee and single-button, shawl-collared, viscose-mix jackets of fractionally shorter length. Among the very prettiest fabrics is a linen silk jacquard in cornflower blue with a buttermilk Persian carnation design in the weave; this is used for coat-and-dress ensembles as well as skirts and trousers. Dresses have boat necks and stop at the knee (very much the preferred option right now), trousers are wide at the hem and skirts taper to hug the legs.

Favoured colours throughout tend to be muted; in addition to biscuit and dusty blue, there are a soft moss-green, grey and cream. Fabrics run from linen - always a summer option with Louise Kennedy - to silk/viscose, fine wool crepe and, of course, cashmere. But regular clients need not worry that their requirements have been overlooked. There are still plenty of well-structured suits on offer for spring/summer and these come in perennially popular shades such as navy blue. After all, understatement is not necessarily to everyone's taste.