The next big thing

EVERY SO OFTEN at a fashion show something special happens. That sensation was overwhelming as young Slavic designer Roksanda Ilincic made her catwalk debut at London Fashion Week, a year ago. As the waifish models lined up, a tall, striking-looking girl could be seen fussing over the details on each of the 13 outfits. Ilincic, with her porcelain skin and long raven hair, could easily have been one of the models. Each alluring dress, embellished with satin corsages, was structured like a piece of couture, but delicately frayed at the edges. The effect was enchanting.

'I like to push femininity to the furthest point,' Ilincic says. 'But I want to give it an edge, so I contrasted the worn, frayed finishing with the haute couture beauty of the dresses. It gives a modern, fresh feel to the look.'

There's a distinctly couture sensibility to Ilincic's work - 'sometimes that part of me doesn't come across' - which is apparent in her new autumn collection. It's inspired by the 1950s, although she says that some of the designs are influenced less by 50s couturier Balenciaga (as some of her bubble silhouettes and bell-shaped sleeves - 'my obsession' - suggest) than by folk costumes of her native Serbia. The collection is a vision of genteel femininity featuring slithery satin dresses with draped backs and dresses and coats with her signature origami-like pleats and gentle folds. A milky grey flannel dress with a cape top clasped with a bow set the mood for ladylike grace rather than girlishness.

'I like to make things feminine. It's important to have a woman's touch in a design. That's why male designers need a muse. What I make is pretty, but it has to have an edge.'

Hyping a new designer in London is a risky game because so many fall quickly by the wayside, but Ilincic is definitely on the rise. She has been nominated as best new designer of the year in London (the result will be announced next week) and her collections have been bought by Browns boutique and the hip new b Store, and by Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong. b Store has been buying her collections since she received a masters' degree from Central St Martin's School of Art, six years ago.

'She has found her niche as a London-based designer of luxury,' says b Store owner Matthew Murphy. 'The collection is small, but full of specials.'

Yasmin Sewell at Browns Focus describes Ilincic's look as 'Lanvin, but approachable and younger, with an edge'. Zarina Kitchell, at Harvey Nichols, says she loved the young couture feel of the collection when she first saw it on the internet. 'It was very fresh, yet still romantic.'