Roving Reporter: Jean Paul Gaultier

Money seems to be fresh on everyone's mind these days, and Jean Paul Gaultier is no different. The swoops, slashes, lines and dashes you'll see below are all his take on the intricate inking of cash.

Blending sweet antique lace with futuristic black-mesh sleeves and a bit of textile calligraphy on an A-line skirt, Gaultier finds a good balance of hard and soft. Anyone else feeling some sailor or stewardess action?


Nothing soft about Sessilee Lopez here. One of my style rules is to ask 'WWKLD?' - What Would Kate Lanphear do? I think she'd approve of the strong-shouldered blazer and ankle-trouser duo. The black gloves feel so matter-of-fact, yet so, so hot. Must get a pair or five.


Once again, Gaultier keeps the waist of his trousers up, up, up. Note that the tailoring isn't as skin-tight as some (brave) fashion-lovers tried to go two years ago. Think crisp '40s dame now.


Yet another high waist, but I don't have to keep reminding you of that. The billowy sleeves on this Spanish-chic blouse reminds me of the whirling and twirling embellishments on paper money. I'm loving the cape effect. We've seen this before at Armani Prive, so do we have a budding trend here?


Asymmetry? Check. Sheer? Check. Devastatingly gorgeous? Check! Jourdan Dunn's come a long way from the Hammersmith Primark where she was discovered.


We're heading into the part of Gaultier's collection that really moved. I'm picturing a handful of cash in Chanel Iman's hand, which would probably all be needed to buy this super-luxe mini. Gaultier only played with colour a few times in the show: a touch of yellow-green here, and a few hints of red now and then.


The panelling work from the Gaultier studio makes me swoon. How exactly does a designer channel Agent Provocateur and a mid-century Barbie at the same time?


Like Jourdan's dress before it, this dress flies. I can almost feel the layers and layers of chiffon fluttering off the screen.


Gaultier's shows was one of my favourites for the week, and after checking this dress out I hope I don't have to tell you why. Just in case, here's what won me over, from the bottom up: calligraphy-print hem detailing, billows, slits, gloves I want to take to a rock opera, a bow collar and a hat that this generation's grandchildren would kill for in a vintage shop. And it doesn't hurt that Karlie Kloss channels Scarlett O'Hara to a tee.


If someone would have stuck this on Jennifer Connelly and called it Balenciaga, I would have been fooled. As it stands, this looks better than real paper money and has structuring only a Gaultier or a Ghesquiere or a McQueen could make properly.


I wish this dress had been around when my bank once tried to find the person who ripped off my bank card. I would have worn it on a quest for justice. On a more serious note, Gaultier again builds on his sense of movement with this gothic number. And are all these double bangles a new trend, or are designers forcing themselves out of a recession by trying to get us to buy times two?


We all know Gaultier can make a corset, but whoa mama. We have the garter, the headpiece, the rocker gloves, a cape so light it could float away and a train that makes me wonder why I ever kept my skirts from dragging on the ground. I expect to see this in a photo shoot, stat.


Again comes the corsetry for this weightless sexy-bride look. Most grooms would want a private (and quick) ceremony with a slit that high.

Roving Reporter: Christian Lacroix

Christmas has already passed, but Mom, if you're paying attention, take notes please. I. Want. This.


Like the rest of the Lacroix show at haute couture week, this gown has a bit of everything going on: bows, messy pleating, mega-metallics, one-shoulder asymmetry. That's before considering the earrings and hairdo. Never have I found a piece of clothing so appealing that looked like a candy wrapper.

The Lacroix show went in all directions, from military dandy to frou-frou flower princess to Russian doll - and it worked. If we're to listen to Mr Christian, we can go back to being children playing dress-up, with every colour pulled in and every piece of jewellery put on.


Let's check out the shoes: coral-embellished pointy-toes, adequately organic to suit the white tights on display.


I call this look the 'Nutcracker Meets Sugar Plum Fairy'. Way to work it, Chanel Iman.


And now we go Russian ballerina, heading home from the ballet. Loving the capelet-topped skirt, complete with petticoat. I picture Patricia Field swooning. Hopefully someone's got an eye out for the Sex and the City sequel...


Lacroix repeatedly mish-mashed black, navy and cobalt blue. This is one of my favourite looks; the tiers of the skirt lead the eye down to the crisp white tights and shoes. I'm thinking gothic antique babydoll.


As quickly as Lacroix went dark, he lightened up with clean, pure lace. How good would this look with a serious red lip?


Moving to embroidery, flower appliques, and tulip-like bubble skirts. The dress maintains its elegance through a well crafted, close-fitting bodice, overpowering the crayon box of colours.


This dress reminds me of a dusky shade of watermelon. I do wish the draping left the waistline a little clearer, because the flutter sleeve and hip accent are gorgeous.


Another look I can picture on Carrie Bradshaw. Businessy bolero with peak collars, a touch of spring floral, the trendy waist belt and an irridescent-ballgown bottom.


Following last season's sheer movement, Lacroix veers back to babydoll with a Rodarte-style sense of the ethereal.


And for the final look, we get a combination of marital and royal. The tiered skirt and super-tall tiara set off the metallics perfectly.

I could see plenty of these looks out and about in London. Thoughts?

Roving Reporter: Armani Prive (!)

Sigh…the snowy mess in London (along with the disproportionate amount of moaning about it) has me wishing I could find somewhere to hop on a plane, grab the girls (Cate Blanchett and a sans-Tommy Katie Holmes) and do a bit of shopping. Naturally, we’d be choosing from the latest Armani Prive haute couture collection – so let’s dissect, shall we?


Well, hello! Pagoda-peak shoulders and down-to-there jackets (closed with pleated bows like this one or frog clasps and tassels) teamed with double-slit skirts that hit high on the calf. The show screamed 1930s plus China plus grunge-lady-spacebot.


Tough and futuristic hair and makeup looked perfectly ladylike when clashed with trumpet skirts and major pearls. The asymmetrical closure on the jacket would only emphasise a girl's sashay down the city streets.


Loving the organic feel of this top, plus the metallic embellishment. This season, Armani Prive played around with tons of cut-outs and unexpected sculpturing to a brilliant end.


Cate, this is where you come in. Care for this skirt set with a three-quarter sleeve top? The contours say Balenciaga, but the gold is all Armani. He also experimented with gunmetal grey, cream, aqua and lavender.


After seeing '40s glamour for the past year, it's nice to get a modified (but still very old-Hollywood siren) silhouette. The neckline of the dress, like so many in the collection, suggests just enough - and the skirt is sexy without even a flash of knee. Wouldn't you love to see how a little hip-gliding walk could reflect light?


Shoulders still strong, but the emphasis is back to the hip with this rich-violet number. And check out that fringe! Katie, I haven't forgotten you - I expect you to wear this on a night out soon.

Now I geek out. Armani Prive always comes out with some of my favourite Oscar dresses, and this one's a perfect contender. Bang on trend with the asymmetry, plus the rich red stands in defiance of the ho-hum mood everyone seems to be in because of the banking blahs. Cate and Kate, I will let you fight over this or hand it out to some lucky lady (ahem, Eva Longoria) as you see fit.


But yet there's more. Keeping with the feel of the Orient, this cleverly constructed metallic and black set says Eastern Flower to me.


Not forgetting a single detail, Armani adds the vase! I'd love to see the internal construction of this number. And it's not just any designer who can go this conceptual, which such a theme-y print, and not overdo it.


Shall we take a trip to Shanghai? Standard strapless goes fashion-forward with exposed ankles and the least-springy floral I've ever seen. Just another example of Armani blending hard and sweet.


These last two leave me undecided when it comes to choosing my favourite Oscar look from the collection. Could it be the reverse one-shoulder brocade, complete with a peekaboo skirt, which I'd love to see on Cate?


Or the strapless platinum sheath that would suit Miss Katie perfectly? Once again, the details (down to the thick Eastern-goth bangles) point straight to the hip.

What do you think of our man Giorgio's couture collection? And if you could take a walk down the red carpet, which gown would you model for the paparazzi?

Roving Reporter: Find a Routine

I agree with Rivkie that the basis of London style is the freedom to wear whatever the heck you want, with some sense of direction, and to rock it like it's the latest thing Lagerfeld dreamed about. That was one of my favourite things about this city when I moved here from a place where a North Face and Uggs was a "cute look".

But no matter how much I love the fact that I can alternate between dressing like Kate Moss in the Doherty years, a depressed grandma as styled by Lily Allen, and sweet lil' Audrey Hepburn, there's something to be said for a routine. And where would one go to find the ultimate in style routines? That would be Paris, mon frere.

At haute couture week, I was particularly impressed by the Lefranc-Ferrant show. Maybe not as A-list name recognition as Gaultier, but this husband-wife duo has worked with the giants: Chloé (under Karl), Guy Laroche, YSL, Lanvin, Catherine Malandrino and Balenciaga.


Some of the most beautiful pieces on offer were black-patent corsets - fembot, super-sexy and dominatrix, yet clinging onto subtlety just enough to wear on an evening out when you seriously wanted to feel important. That corset would feel as costume-y as some of the pieces any of us wear on the streets every day, but the sense of control symbolised by putting this over a simple evening gown and keeping everything else plain is London Look x 1 kazillion.

Heading to Paris has inspired me to be a little less scatterbrained in the way I dress, so from now on I'll go for chic a bit more. (You KNOW that won't happen on Mondays.) The refined Parisians going to and from the shows - and even the ones floating around the city without the perks of car service and makeup artists - didn't have to be weird or different or over-the-top, but I can guarantee you they looked just as good for what they didn't add to their outfits as what they did.


I wouldn't suggest that London ditch it's quirkiness, or we would never end up with a Christopher Kane or a Louise Goldin or a Gareth Pugh (whom the Parisians would eventually steal, those thieves). But every now and then, it's OK to show some polish.

Seen and Overheard: Skipping School

Naughty, naughty. Two side-by-side front-row seats sat conspicuously empty at the Lefranc-Ferrant haute couture show this Tuesday in Paris. What did the reservation cards say? Hilary Alexander from the Telegraph and Suzy Menkes from the International Herald Tribune.

Was it the lack of two guests of honour that held the show up 45 minutes?

Runway Roundup: Marina Nicolaidou

I loved the autumn/winter 2008 YSL collection. Lots of black, very grimy feeling, coats that hide you from the world. Any runway show that can make it seem that drop-crotch pants are natural, and even flattering, has serious brainpower.In Marina Nicolaidou’s master’s collection for the London College of Fashion show, I found the same train of thought take a new direction (and for menswear). Marina had it all – the leave-me-alone jackets, the jodhpurs with their crotches at knee-level – but with her looks all in white, she achieved a vibe that was so off-puttingly surgical that I loved it.Marina played around with Mao collars, bow-in-back jackets and coats that feel more like robes than outerwear. But one of her most interesting pieces was subtle. Was that a high-riding cummerbund she put under one of her coats, or is she suggesting than men should belt their waists? Her experiment with length, as seen in the knee-length jacket that hit almost the same point of leg as her shorts, was pulled off well.
I’m not sure how many men we can expect to see wearing gauzy white shorts, and was that a male playsuit I saw? But overall, Marina gave me just what I was looking for – clean, well cut looks with flavours of the incomparable Yves.

Runway Roundup: Yun Ju Ko Kate (Take 2)

Rivkie - I loved her! It's the sequins I wasn't sure about, but that's another story.
One of my favourite Oscar dresses of all time has to be Hilary Swank’s long-sleeved, navy blue number. You know the one I mean. That Guy Laroche dress was simple, almost to the point of being boring from the front. Then Hilary turned around and BAM – no back. Guy Laroche set up the most interesting point of his dress to be seen when walking away, and I think LCF’s Yun Ju Ko Kate had a similar philosophy.At her runway presentation last night, Yun played around with some of the trends we knew should be coming: sheer, lots of chiffon, asymmetry – you get the idea. But her added touches, like a floaty top that became a cape from the back, or a dress that had a cowl back instead of the typical cowl neck, made her something special.
That’s not to say Yun’s looks don’t wow from head-on. In palates of mocha, buttercream and gunmetal grey, she offered the most flattering empire waists and the sweetest baby-doll dresses. And I would love to take home a pair of her high-waisted capri pants for the days when I try to feel like a Hepburn.
To stand out at LCF’s master’s show – which featured 19 talented students – takes real potential. Rivkie and I agreed Yun has that, and we hope that a rack at the Laden Showroom or a guest collection at Topshop is in her future.

Runway Roundup: Emilia Bariamova

Emilia Bariamova, have you been sneaking off with Giles Deacon?

The bigger-means-better approach to knitwear he took a few seasons ago was fully present at the LCF student’s runway show.

Start with a sweater dress that cowls to mid-belly, with sleeve holes that gape nearly as low, and move on to a dress all in white with a turtleneck piled to lip level. These knits are not for the weak.

One of Emilia’s most interesting risks was a white, mega-cable knit sweater dress with dangling adornments that could perhaps be described as…yarn sausages or woolly tails. Two layers of the add-ons circled the chest and hips, and although editorially interesting, there were pieces that showed her talent better.

That’s not to say the Fash Pack team didn’t love it. We did, and more importantly, an extra-special member of the front row was pleased. Emilia, you now can count Nicola Roberts as one of your fans.