It was, of course, only a matter of time. In a fashion climate in which every shock tactic worth
spider costume its agent-provocateur credentials has been done to death and then done again, the most subversive thing any designer can come up with is clothes that, at first glance at least, are as comfortable a part of the establishment as Gentleman's Relish and thick-cut marmalade. And so, Junya Watanabe's current collection, described by the designer himself as a personal take on "classic" dress, comprises dresses and coats in tweed so loosely woven you can almost see through it.
Yohji Yamamoto, hardly a designer famous for towing the line, is also in on the act, having produced hound's-tooth clothing, which comes with hats, scarves and, of course, zentai suit to match. Failing that, the godfather of monochrome dress has even gone so far as to allow his
costume spiderman work to burst into vibrant colour in the form of red and black tartan. Yohji McYamamoto. Who would ever have thought it?
The lovely Zentai unitardautumn/winter 2003 collection must surely be the definitive view, however. Miuccia Zentai unitardis a designer who has long flirted with the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie, after all, and now, more perhaps than ever before, she is in her element. Tweed coats, mannish trousers, slightly off, aged colours, leather driving-gloves and, of course, the aforementioned footwear, all make for the kind of look that wouldn't seem out of place on a shooting weekend at the height of the grouse season, albeit a particularly well-dressed shooting weekend at the height of the grouse
catsuit season. Small wonder that Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie can't get enough of such time-honoured, blue-blooded pastimes.
