Roland Mouret unveils power dressing for the modern woman at Paris Fashion Week

 
4 March 2014

London's best known power dresser delighted Paris Fashion Week this morning with a collection for city-slickers who prefer their clothes with a seriously stylish edge.

Demonstrating his position as a designer with an astute awareness of the wants of an urban women with important places to be, Roland Mouret unveiled pin-sharp suiting, masterfully draped coats and elegantly-cut evening gowns detailed with lattice knit panels and moulded leather collars.

The occasion also saw the classic pencil skirt reimagined for 2014 through the inclusion of exposed zips and cleverly positioned paneling.

The clothes oozed with a maturity not often seen on Paris's indignantly youthful catwalks. But they were far from conservative with punchy colour and a clever approach to silhouette among the collection's greatest strengths.

Speaking before the show Mouret, who runs his business from Mayfair's Carlos Place, said he had reached a point in his career where he felt confident in ploughing his own path as a designer. "I'm doing what I feel passionate about, rather than what I feel is expected of me," he said. And for his loyal customer base who have long come to the designer for killer cocktail dresses, this passion translates to more of the same next season.

Pioneering a looser, slightly more fluid dress style, Mouret toyed with asymmetric panelling and an an oversized dogtooth check motif to add a contemporary feel to silk, sleeveless dresses which fell below the knee while the inclusion of a stunning ivory jumpsuit trimmed with feathers allowed the designer to expand his eveningwear offering for the season ahead.

Keen to inject a sense of contemporary, effortless appeal into this offering, Mouret unveiled each piece on offer with a flat pointed Chelsea-style boot. A series of cross-body leather shoulder bags further enhanced this effect.

Clearly enjoying the direction his brand is going in at the moment, today's show was a confident, finely tuned offering which showcased the work of a designer who is content in his own skin.

It begins a year of expansion for the Roland Mouret brand during which the designer will open his first store outside of London on New York's Madison Avenue and follows three consecutive years of double-digit growth, during which Mouret launched handbags, shoes and bridal. For Mouret, who owns the company in a joint venture with 19 Management's Simon Fuller, the company's success has been a long time coming. In 2010, the designer was forced to buy back the rights to operate under the "Roland Mouret" name after a deal with previous backers fell apart. The company also recently relaunched e-commerce.

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