THE silkily-dressed audience looked so summery in sharp contrast with the sombre clothes in Thomas Wolfangel's autumn collection. But the man, with his finger on the fashion pulse, has gone for black.
It is a cracker of a collection from a designer who has been controlled by his clients for too long.
His autumn range, shown in the Berkeley Court Hotel in Dublin, took a huge leap into a more contemporary kind of dressing.
Gone the fussy obsession with detail, the love of pattern and the weakness for a hundred different colours, to be replaced by the smart black number: sharper, fitted, and no frills.
Given the high standard of craftsmanship involved, who could ask for more?
Of course, he does have problems, mainly clients who go wild for brightly patterned two-pieces, and whose demands may have kept him back.
But these were modern, simple clothes with the edge on most of their kind. They look expensive but are rarely more than £350 for a suit designed any way you want, and in any fabric from a huge selection.
He is the fastest designer around, asking for only two fittings and delivering in two weeks.
There are plenty of closet Wolfangel devotees who can now boast about their designer because this autumn he has made stylish clothes.
The collection has the suit at its centre. Two would do nicely.
Neatly fitting, usually in black wool, there are styles galore, with degrees of dressiness. There might be black velvet collars and buttons, or criss-cross detail on the jacket, or splendid kimono sleeves touches that definitely make it look what it is, couture.
If the little black suit is a must, the slim wool crepe dress - dead plain - is a close second which, in turn, calls for a sumptuous cashmere coat, wonderful in swirling white, navy or black at £750.
There is a snappy black leather-coat at £750 partially concealing a wanton leopard-print suit no nice girl would wear - but who cares about nice? Could be Wolfangel has hidden depths.
Where, you might ask, are all the pretty prints? Mostly gone, that's where.
Admittedly cocktail dressing is bright, with emerald, red and multi-coloured check silk suits designed to take the social scene by storm.
Overlooked at a party? No chance of that here. There is a leaf-green pure silk suit (£380) among others that is pretty delectable.
But after dark it is back to black again, or a dull, metallic gold.
By avoiding the lure of the dazzling and the danger of too many bits and pieces, Thomas Wolfangel has performed to perfection and finally shown he can do it in black without a sparkler in sight.
The collection is available at 158 Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge.