Givenchy backers get their reward

With Versace not holding a couture show this season - out of respect for the couturier who was shot dead in Miami last summer - Givenchy is now the house for modern haute couture.

Alexander McQueen yesterday dedicated his spring/summer '98 haute couture collection for Givenchy to the clients, and well he might. The handful who have remained with the label since Hubert de Givenchy made his exit to the quick succession of John Galliano followed by Alexander McQueen, have stood by as the fashion house has been turned inside out. Givenchy himself is not amused by the musical chairs or the disregard for both his own work and the clients who were so loyal to him.

McQueen's third couture collection for Givenchy proved a treat for those women who are burning to buy clothes that are made to flatter every centimetre of their lypo-suctioned skinny bodies. If it is a trouser suit they are after, McQueen makes the best in Paris. He showed off his talents for tailoring with jackets with angular shoulders and narrow waists teamed with wide legged trousers. His haute couture suits will do for his customers what Savile Row does for their husbands - at similar prices too, starting around pounds 10,000.

McQueen opened the show with a dress that was a shimmer of gold fringing, followed by an orange and cream quilted satin patchwork kimono. References to the Orient came thick and fast, with harem trousers, saris and sumptuous Japanese embroideries. After too many false starts and publicity stunts, this show puts Givenchy back on track with fabulous workmanship and smart cutting, and clothes that are sure to fulfil the dreams of a handful more clients at least.