One memorable feature in designer Martin Grant‘s namesake label is the label itself. With strict fire engine red lettering weaving through a royal blue background, it serves as a fitting juxtaposition for his darkly hued, heavily seamed leather coats and sharply proportioned jackets. If the primary colored label conjures up faint visions of his pieces hanging on the racks at Barneys — it’s likely — he’s been a Barneys discovery for more than four years. If your trip to Paris goes without a stop-in at the tony specialty store L’Eclaireur on rue des Rosiers, you would have discovered his boutique directly across the street. The consensus among those in the know in Paris, is that this very well connected Aussie transplant is long overdue his full exposure. Business is healthy; he’s been championed by Vogue’s
Andre Leon Talley, close friend and client Cate Blanchet and numerous other high profile contacts, but Grant has yet to be splashed across the pages of the monthly glossies. A designer for the continental woman, his work is riddled with serious French lines: opera coats with keyhole décolleté, Napoleonic collars combined with darting and seaming that create a dramatic structured effect free of the high camp theatric. For seasons to come, these pieces will garner compliments for their studied elegance and quiet roar. Exposure granted!

- Jason Campbell

Photo: Martin Grant Spring 2003