Julien Macdonald last night threw away his colour palette and paid homage to the fashionistas' favourite colour - black.
His latest show was a dark shadow of his previous vibrant collections, with only the barest hint of colour visible on the bleak but reflective catwalk at London Fashion Week.
Yet even though his love of garish hues and shocking prints was missing from the autumn/winter 2007 collection, some of his favourite accessories were still given pride of place alongside his immaculate styling.
His collection - the first since he was made an OBE in the Queen's 2006 Birthday Honours - was dominated by slinky black dresses. Fitted fur jackets were also the order of the day - sure to excite the passions of the animal rights movement.
When the show finally began - 90 minutes late - Julien sent model after model down the catwalk in black full-length dresses, black shorter hemlines and an array of fur jackets.
He showed sleek, sharp suits with three quarter length sleeves and coats belted at the waist, all twinned with slick black headbands. He also sent models out wearing prim pleated knee length skirts, before showing an elegant white tasselled 20s style flapper dress and tiny sequinned mini dresses in black and gold.
But, rather than opt for stick thin models, he appeared to defer to the size zero controversy twirling round this year's event, sending supermodel Naomi Campbell first down the catwalk, to cheers from the audience at the London Hilton Park Lane.
Julien also paid homage to his designs which originally caught the eye of Karl Lagerfeld, who signed the up-and-coming designer from Merthyr Tydfil to become head of knitwear at Chanel.
He reworked the intricate styles of his early career to fit the more mature styling of his older years, sending full-length crocheted dresses, again in black, down the catwalk.
The mass of black was only broken up by the its nearest relatives in the spectrum - grey, a hint of white and a splash of the darkest greens, brown and copper, all contrasted by the glittering opulence of silver and gold.
His use of gold and silver was more than a gentle nod towards the futuristic metallic trend - a textured gold jacket and two tasselled silver dresses raised the biggest applause of the night.
It was Campbell - who has a close relationship with Julien, having modelled for him in the past - who stole the show, appearing last of all in a sparkling gold and black dress pinched at the waist with a large black bow.
Shoes were courtesy of cult label Gina, while hair was noticeably scraped back into tight buns, accessorised with thick black hair bands.
Despite the muted colour theme, the atmosphere was anything but, with large silver glitter balls hovering above the stage, and an upbeat soundtrack.
As is always the case with Julien Macdonald the celebrities were out in force, with Peaches Geldof, Victoria Hervey and Kimberley Stewart among those taking up seats in the front row - alongside his father, mother and sisters from Merthyr.
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