Businesswise, Matthew Williamson has had the best six months of his 12-year career. Whoever’s buying — and he doesn’t ask too many questions — is responding to his upbeat , relaxed brand of laid-back glamour. Laid back that is if you’re a New York (or Russian or Dubai) babe whose idea of R&R is a yacht cruising round the disco hotspots of the Med. We’re talking über embellishment — thick embroideries and beads and a cacophany of hot colours. Orchid prints were magnified until they resembled eerie, 7,000 leagues under the sea vegetation and sleeves were built up with layers of sequins to look like shells. But the real reason girls love this label is because, relatively speaking, it’s low maintenace: no constricting corsetry or edgy tailoring. However, those shift shapes looked crisper than usual and the bling looked blingier.

He pulled out the stops for this return to London and the result was both polished and accomplished . Good move. Anyone spending now wants bang for their buck and an obvious point of difference from his high street lines for H&M and Debenhams. He’s about to launch a homeware collection with the latter. He’s also working on a menswear line exclusively for Harrods. This is a designer establishing a solid brand.

Mind you with two of his front-rowers wearing the same Matthew Williamson dress, including Olivia Palermo, star of The City, which, if I’ve got this right, is a scripted reality show, he may have to work on the exclusive angle.

Lisa Armstrong

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