Martin Grant

PARIS, October 7, 2006
By Nicole Phelps
Martin Grant's clothes have always been about the dream of French chic. The trench. The little black dress. The jumpsuit? Like others this season, the Australian-born designer has injected a sportif element into his collection. It appeared in silhouettes (a snap-front jacket with hood), materials (a tent gown in sweatshirt-gray jersey), and details (contrast piping on a set of 1920s tennis dresses).

Where were the coats and suits that have made Grant's Marais studio a must-shop for devotees including Lee Radziwill, who looked the picture of elegance in his front row? A flawless raincoat in the palest gray near the beginning boded well. Unfortunately, though, this was followed by dresses that were surprisingly offhand (read: sloppy) for such a meticulous tailleur, the worst offender being a lime-green cowlneck jersey number. A plainer T-shirt dress cut from the same fabric but in heather-gray worked better.

For all that, Grant turned out some fine evening dresses, especially the final look, a red gown with a fishtail train and a bodice folded, pleated, and pressed with the assiduous attention to every detail for which the designer is known.

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