Tara Jarmon: French dressing for all

Tara Jarmon’s flattering designs are just the thing for looking smart this summer, says Gemma Hayward

Tara Jarmon has a lot to celebrate. Not only has the Canadian-born designer just celebrated the 20th anniversary of her eponymous fashion brand with boutiques dotted all around the French capital, she has also just opened a flagship store – her third on British soil – located on London’s prestigious New Bond Street, no less.

Since moving to Paris 25 years ago, Jarmon has developed her brand as a go-to for chic clothes that ooze Gallic charm; proving popular among those seeking quality and understated style without far-out fashion eccentricity. Perfect for bridging the office-appropriate gap between formal and fusty, the label is also pleasingly classic.

That approach even trickles down to the way the label is run: special finishing, details and prints are all designed on the premises. While garments are draped in the old-fashioned way: fitted on live models and adjusted by hand.

The new store in the capital stocks the full range of clothes and accessories, which this season includes full-skirted, summer shirt dresses in ice-cream shades of pistachio and lemon sorbet, sexy pencil skirts, striped silk shorts, printed cigarette pants and modern leather T-shirts.

But if that all sounds a bit too grown up for your tastes, a diffusion line, Mademoiselle Tara, has just been launched as a more youthful accompaniment to the successful mainline. With inspiration taken from summer camps and the 1980s, tulip and trapeze shapes of coats and skirts have a casual spirit which are destined to please the young at heart. There really is something for almost everyone, and every occasion.