Irish designer is inspired by ballet while Jasper Conran gets saucy, reports Deirdre McQuillanin London
JOHN ROCHA'S lovely show on the second day of London Fashion Week gave a lift to an otherwise black Monday in which the sudden chill in the city air reflected the darkening banking crisis. Known for his monochrome style and offbeat elegance, Rocha's spring collection was more shapely and structured than usual, more feminine in spirit.
Though the snowy Linton tweeds that opened the show were sweetly embroidered with white ribbon, there was less superfluous decor in the crinoline dresses and standaway jackets that flared airily from the waist. "I was thinking of ballerinas and the play on proportions," he said backstage. White-faced models, their hair scraped into buns, wearing blocked-toed shoes drove the ballet reference home.
Mixing ideas of masculinity and femininity, "disarray versus control", his slim and flattering tunics, occasionally backless, added extra elegance to long black lace dresses while severe menswear pieces were enlivened with small but noticeable decorative touches. Even trench coats came in lengths that could be worn swagged or swinging at the back.
The big surprise was the colour - georgette dresses thick with petals in shades of mint, raspberry and royal blue were hung with collars of heavy Jaipur crystal closing a stellar show, arguably his best ever.
Currently a nominee for the Elle Deco award to be announced in London at the end of October, Rocha has just been made an honorary patron of Trinity College's Philosophical Society and is to address "the Phil" in mid-November.
If Rocha's collection was romantic, Jasper Conran seemed to throw his customary refinement to the winds with a collection that was raunchy and saucy with frilled knickers, nude silks, corseted tops and barely-there dresses. But he is too much of a sophisticate to go too far and the mood was playful and tongue in cheek with titles like "Miss Demeanour", "Rough Crossing" and "Dollita", the latter a confection of ruffles, pleats and frills in sugary georgette.
The Danish designer Peter Jensen, whose reputation grows with each season, sent out red-headed tomboys in dusty pink trouser suits and gingham shirts, jackets tossed airily over the shoulder in a show that was fresh and summery. His mix of tailoring and prints could sometimes be over the top - a flowery menswear suit was doubtful - but a red leopard print cardigan jacket worn with red shorts was spot on in every sense. As for the Ossie Clark show, the less said about it, the better. Kelly green coats, lacklustre orange shifts and indifferent prints were a travesty of what was once a great name.