Goodbye old Macdonald

Ever since Julien Macdonald started at the house of Givenchy, critics have been trying to write him off. But it now looks as though the designer may have finally found his feet.

Save for a couple of clumsy confections in satin, his show looked like a proper couture collection, with his own innovative techniques.

A multi-layered black tulle balldress had been dyed to produce an irridescent blue and red effect reminiscent of an insect's wings, while the crocheting technique that first drew the fashion world's attention to Macdonald was used to good effect on skin-tight knitted chiffon cocktail dresses.

Also successful was a brief black ballet dress whose bodice was draped with strings of black pearls, and a strapless ballgown overlaid with wide-gauge fishnet. The audience at the newly restored Grand Hotel ballroom applauded every exit with gusto.

And while a Julien Macdonald show is famous for Lizzie Jagger on the catwalk in not very much at all, there were no such attention-grabbing tactics at Givenchy.

The 30-year-old Welshman stuck to a buttoned-up austerity for the house that will forever be associated with Audrey Hepburn, with daywear so severe it looked positively Victorian. Black jackets came buttoned up to the neck and were worn with tight hobble skirts.

Macdonald's own-label clients, who include Kelly Brook, Martine McCutcheon and Kylie Minogue, might not rush to wear such schoolmarm-ish garb, but Givenchy's older clients should be placing their orders with gusto.

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