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International Herald Tribune

14 Tuesday, September 20, 2005 Fashion
From Macdonald, tropical glitz;
at Elspeth Gibson, easy sweetness

Suzy Menkes/International Herald Tribune

A self-portrait of the stylish Michael Roberts adorns the cover of his book, a wry look at the fashion world. At right, the designer.

Feting an unsung fashion hero

By Suzy Menkes The definition of an ‘‘outsider,’’ the ‘‘Karl goes way back — we first met
peripatetic Roberts, who says ‘‘there in the early ’70s when he had just star-
LONDON is nowhere I can safely say I’d lay my ted at Chloé, when he showed in the
n unsung fashion hero has fi- hat and call it home,’’ was born of a St. restaurant Laurent and the hats were

A nally been recognized as Mi-

chael Roberts, illustrator, edit-
or, style director and maverick takes
his book on tour. On Tuesday, Bur-
berry will fete the British-born
Roberts, whose trajectory from art
school in High Wycombe in 1968 to
the swinging London world of Carn-
aby Street and Kings Road, to fashion
editor of The Sunday Times and
today’s role at the New Yorker, was as
arrow-straight as the graphic lines in
his illustrated book.
‘‘The Snippy World of New Yorker
Fashion Artist Michael Roberts,’’ pub-
lished by Steid/Edition 7L, tells the
story in its title. It is both an intricate
assemblage of collages, done, says
Roberts ‘‘mostly in hotel rooms;’’ and
a wry and sometimes scissor-sharp
take on the world of style. You would
have to look to Cecil Beaton’s very dif-
ferent decorative sketches to find
someone with such a beady eye for
what makes style. Even the sky-
scrapers of New York take on a dizzy
geometric glamour, as Roberts fixes
each image in the context of its time.
Milano Tel +39 02 546701
Lucian mother and was jolted out of
suburban Britain by winning a schol-
arship and a trip to New York where
he met everyone who counted in
1960s style from Andy Warhol
through Richard Avedon.
His career was propelled by two
women: first Molly Parkin, an eccent-
ric and original editor at The Sunday
Times, and then Tina Brown, who
made him central to her 1980s
makeover of the social magazine The
Tatler.
Add to that roster Janey Ironside,
the iconic head of London’s Royal
College of Art, who had also spotted
Roberts’s talent and Vogue supreme
Anna Wintour.
Roberts describes the frenzied
Tatler years, when celebrity was just
beginning to vibrate in magazines
and Roberts ‘‘left messages in shoe
boxes at Manolo’s shop’’ to woo stars
and royalty to be photographed for its
pages. Haute cobbler Manolo Blahnik
is yet another admirer and supporter
as is Karl Lagerfeld, whose imprint
has published the book.
two meters wide and there was
Kenzo, Loulou [de la Falaise] and Pa-
loma [Picasso],’’ he says.
At fashion’s epicenter, yet always a
lone observer, Roberts has a unique
insight into the fashionable world,
which he reduces, like Cocteau, to a
few sparing lines. New York features
large, although he is ambivalent
about its attractions.
‘‘I feel most attracted and repelled
about New York,’’ he says. ‘‘There is
no strong guiding aesthetic. Every-
thing is for the moment.’’
The respect that Roberts has
earned, without ever being a fashion
power broker, is proved by the fact
that, as well the Burberry event, Berg- JULIEN MACDONALD AMANDA WAKELEY
dorf Goodman launched the book in
New York last week and Tod’s will
give it a sendoff during the Milan
shows. Since Roberts is a fine and
sharp writer, what about a words,
rather than a picture book?
‘‘I am leaving that to Rupert Everett
who is doing his kiss and tell mem-
oirs!’’ Roberts said. ‘‘I’ll keep my
secrets.’’

ELSPETH GIBSON JENS LAUGESEN

Photographs by Christopher Moore/Andrew Thomas

By Jessica Michault for a modern-day princess. After offer- with the sleeves ruched up to give the
ing up tea and cakes to a famished fash- impression of ripples in a still pool and
LONDON ion crowd, the designer opened her a suede zigzag two-tone coffee and
n Sunday the Welsh designer Ju- show with a dress that set the tone for cream halter dress that hit just the right

O lien Macdonald started off Lon-

don Fashion Week with a show
that is sure to keep the fans of his trade-
mark glitz and glamour dresses very
happy. With his sponsor Swarovski
supplying the shimmering crystals, the
designer splashed out on sparkly trop-
ical prints in warm weather colors of
flamingo pink, turquoise, purple and
emerald green.
Flouncy-tiered skirts worn with
rope-tasseled sandals and chunky
wooden bracelets gave the show a fes-
tive south of the border feel while the
racy swimwear is suitable for sun-
bathing only. As always the knitwear
was executed with a deft hand, a green
and white stripped ensemble was a par-
ticular standout. And for evening there
were plenty of Macdonald’s sexy,
slinky gowns with feathers floating
from the hem. But while the ruffled
checked taffeta dresses might be a bit
much even for Miss Piggy (who was sit-
ting in the front row), the white strap-
less cocktail dress with the powder puff
skirt of laser-cut tulle flowers would be
a perfect choice for any young in-
génue.
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of
her line, Elspeth Gibson stuck to what
she does best, sugar sweet clothing fit
the collection. It was a deceptively
simple white satin dress enveloped in
chartreuse netting that at once looked
feminine and contemporary.
Overall the collection had a sense of
comfort and ease. The nubby pink
sweater with a sprinkling of paillettes
across the shoulder with matching
shorts and the lacy shoulder straps on a
simple white cotton T-shirt conveyed a
relaxed femininity. And a strapless
mint green dress with a copper tulle
overlay in a coin-dot pattern was both
whimsical and sophisticated. The
choice of metallic-colored fabrics and
beading gave the eveningwear more
weight and a bit of an edge. But with the
final gown, Gibson showed her witty
side by making the ultimate cocktail
dress in a floor-length dove gray cre-
ation with embroidery in the form of
sparkling cocktail glasses.
The British designer Amanda
Wakely’s spring/summer collection
was all about quiet comfort. From the
free-flowing tunics in a sea grass print
to the wide silk pants these were
clothes made to not only look good, but
feel good. The soft neutral palette of
olive, blush pink, and cream helped
give the clothes an unobtrusive quality.
Key pieces included a leather jacket
note. A running theme throughout the
show was a wrapping of the torso. This
came in the form of wraparound, belted
kimono-sleeved jackets and pleated
olive chiffon dresses tied up in silk rib-
bons that gave a glimpse, through the
folds of the translucent skirt, of the
pink underskirt hiding beneath.
To the sounds of a rising rainstorm,
the Danish designer Jens Laugesen sent
out an androgynous collection that
seemed to want to capture and encase
the female form. Be it a soft white cot-
ton dress cocooned in a tulle overlay, a
wide belt slipping through the sides of
a jersey top to encircle a waist or a cor-
set cinched tight over pants.
In a collection of mostly black and
white clothing, Laugesen also returned
to a favorite subject, sending out a
myriad of interpretations of the tuxedo
jacket — from a cape with a pair of
high-waisted pants to a top whittled
down to just the lapels over a short
skirt. The designer also played with the
idea of layering, by folding the clothing
back on itself as if peeling off a layer to
expose the fragile underbelly of the
clothing below.
Jessica Michault is on the staff of the
International Herald Tribune.