Romantic look for city chic woman

SONIA Bogner breathes fresh air on the fashion climate with elegant, chic styles for the cosmopolitan woman.

The new look is romantic, but it is city-hot and streets ahead of the crowd.

Cut with a dash, wrapped in the finest fabrics, there are suits for the boardroom, casuals for time out, separates for cultural diversion.

For the Sonia Bogner woman, all the world is her stage.

The curtain rises on Paris, the South of France, Venice, London, New York: the centres of fashionable chic which form opinion but regard sensation with distaste.

Whatever the occasion, comfort and beauty is the key.

Travelling across Continents, the Sonia Bogner woman delights in diversity. She is open to experience, but is never taken unawares.

Drawn by the world's currents, her sophistication lets her stop while the majority flows on.

Sotheby's mixes business with beauty. Montenapoleone is for sophisticated femininity. Harry's Bar moves effortlessly from day into night. There is Sorbonne chic without the cheek. Hard Rock Cafe keeps an elegant finger on the pulse of fashionable fun. French Riviera coasts along with the 1930s. Porto Cervo is draped with sea air and graces. The Villa D'Este puts cool accents on warm sensuality. Hotel de Paris brings out the shining stars for after-dark glamour.

The formal merges with the flowing and streamlined tailoring takes fashion to the crest of the wave.

For evenings, there are high slits, racy halters, slimline dresses with a vest top, slip dresses and the ultimate little black dress with a bathing-suit neckline.

For daytime dressing, the highlights are the elegant shirt-waist and vest dresses, wrap-around skirts, slim stretch pants, featherweight suits, wide palazzo pants, de luxe knits, pleated skirts, sleeveless tunics and open cardigans.

For warmth on a cooler night, sensual jersey, roomy blazers, layered parkas, swinging short-tie coats, heavy silk-yarn hand-knits and sexy leather jackets fit the bill.

The fabrics are as soft and sensual as only the highest quality materials can be: bare skin warms to cool classics and unusual fabric mixes.

This collection features combinations which defy what exists and define what's to come: Fuji silk and Prince of Wales linen; merino wool and finely striped raffia; cashmere and stretch-elastic cloque; pin-stripe linen gauze and gabardine; denim and shantung silk; organza and terry cloth; lamb suede and supple leather - even seersucker.

The colours see a firm rejection of ''basic is boring''. The palette is a perfect balance of the core classics and subtly shaded complements.

The expression of individuality is returned to the woman with a mind of her own, and she can't go wrong.

Basic black, white and gold are given new depth with dusky Navajo, reds, smoky blue, farina beige, baby pink, cocoa brown, and jewel - such as citrine, aquamarine and amethyst.

In accessories, the accepted is rejected: Sonia Bogner offers an invitation to the innovative.

No buttons or bows, but wrap-around ties and soft knots for a secure new style; Grace Kelly and spade collars; sharp French cuffs; leather and basque halters; wide figure-hugging belts and tie belts on coats; contrasting top-stitching - on sling-back shoes; leather jeans and lamb-suede jackets; striped espadrilles with ankle laces and flat sporty shoes; jet stones on lace-net; fringes on skirts and suede shawls; Amazon decolletes and satin lapels add sparkle to single-breasted jackets.

The Sonia Bogner woman dresses to please one woman - herself.

She may cross time zones as she jets around the world, but she never crosses the boundaries of elegance.

She is having a romance with city chic.