The excitement in watching Roland Mouret is the way he walks a fine line between French romanticism and the London gutter. As a Frenchman, he's obsessed with making beautiful fabrics run over a woman's body like a whispered compliment; as a guy who lives in London, he knows a Gallic cliché when he sees one.
Mouret's clothes are for women who can't stand overdressing at night, but still want to turn on the seduction. Which they can do perfectly in a chiffon dress with billowing sleeves, or a dramatically simple neck-to-floor column of black jersey that turns to show a naked back. Newer for Mouret this season is his addition of structured tailoring, like belted jackets with strong shoulders, bouclé pants and a navy trenchcoat with overstitched seaming, all with a faintly '40s air. Even more impressive is the changing backdrop against which Mouret's clothes are shown. What was once an off-schedule date in gritty Bermondsey is now an affair amongst gleaming chandeliers in Christie's. Flattery will get you everywhere.
