Designer A-Z

Marc Jacobs

Autumn/Winter 2010

SHOW SCHEDULES

By Avril Mair

There were no celebrities in the front row.

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There were no superstar models on the catwalk. The set was made from bits of cardboard stapled to the walls. Yet Marc Jacobs put on a show for Autumn Winter 2010 that proved without doubt his creative genius.

In fact, it was a tour de force. As the audience were still taking their seats, five minutes before the start time, Marc Jacobs himself ran onto the catwalk, along with business partner Robert Duffy. Together they pulled away sheets of brown paper concealing a stage revealing their 56 models, lined up in neat rows.

As the soundtrack began - the introduction to The Wizard Of Oz, then an orchestral version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow - they started walking. Although there had been rumours about street casting, suggesting something extreme, the girls simply looked pretty. And so did the clothes. There was nothing new in this beautiful and refined collection. The designer described it earlier as "kind of an anti-modern statement". But it was all the better for that.

Marc revisited some old classics, both his own and conservative standards; the camel coat, the Prince of Wales check suit, the plaid calf-length skirt, the sequin goddess gown. All were teamed with simple ankle socks and flat or kitten-heeled shoes. Ladylike, feminine and desirable, it felt almost like a cleansing of the palette. A triumph of style over fashion. Bravo.