Paris Fashion Week: Roland Mouret S/S 2012

Corner of paradise “It's about finding that tiny corner of paradise for your summer holiday - those little corners that still exist, perhaps a little village in the South of France, that have not yet been made all shiny and mass

market by tourism," Roland Mouret told us before unveiling his spring/summer 2012 collection this morning. "These clothes are about making it your responsibility to dress for that view of paradise - it's a crafty attitude to the clothes, a touch of the bohemian attitude that lets you be part of that postcard."

We were awakened from our reverie of going on "zee holidayz" with the handsome French designer by a collection that had a “wonderful post-war romantic quality about it,” said Vogue’s deputy editor, Emily Sheffield, afterwards. “It made you think of dancing in Parisian bars when the war ended, it was really lovely.”

Mouret, now ensconced in his Carlos Place London headquarters by way of Simon Fuller’s cash (who was thanked in the show notes as “one of those rare people who are there when you need them most, and yet allow creativity without question”), has a firm formula that he rarely deviates from: today’s super tight red or black pencil skirts with gold zips snaked up the back attest to that.

There was a slightly more relaxed feel again though, in draped cotton dresses with grosgrain ribbon forming undulating hems or eyes that were embroidered sporadically over the skirts.
Soft tweed jackets were tucked into high-waisted, tight skirts and elastic bra tops bound the tops of supremely glamorous Mouret girls – but the body-con element was juxtaposed with roomy open coats in blue with black shoulder details, cream trouser suits that were loosely caught in at the ankle and silk shorts that came almost to the knee in silk of dark grey or turquoise.

A final run of dresses featuring the signature ruffles down the back seam carried appliqué tulips – red on white or navy on red or mustard on burgundy. The hemline falling high on the calf, they were womanly and feminine and looked lovely to wear – but kept from being too old by a springy hemmed LBD that followed.

“This is a controversial time and there is no blue print of how to live in this financial uncertainty,” continued Mouret afterwards. “There is no blue print answer for it, you just have to believe your own answer." So what's his? "To respect the woman I dress: what she does, what she needs, to encourage her to buy so that she doesn't feel wrong about it. Some people feel wrong spending money, but sometimes you can make them feel that they are supporting an industry, actually helping people keep their jobs in the factories, keeping the quality high - and that’s the legacy you carry by buying them, that's really important.”