Jean-Pierre Braganza SS14: not a girl, not yet a woman

Braganza's own daughter provided the inspiration for his Spring/Summer 2014 collection: a teenager caught in that unique zone between careless girlishness and studied nonchalance, she led him to dream up a collection that played on feminine contradictions. Silky but edgy; sharp but soft, the pieces were both easy and concise. The show opened with flouncy skater suit shapes, icy pinks and pretty wrap silk skirts, but there was a carefully thought-out edge to everything: a graphic black hem here, a flash of leather there. Key pieces such as a perfectly cut little white dress, a louche silk boiler suit and a billowing mullet-hem gown of matt black silk will appeal to women young and old; anybody who wants to look elegant and sexy - without ever trying to hard.