All wrapped up...

Diane von Furstenberg is otherwise known as "queen of the wrap dress" for her slinky little numbers that cling to the body in the sexiest manner.

The dresses, which guarantee to turn even the frumpiest woman into a vamp, have won her a legion of high-profile fans including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jade Jagger and Cherie Blair.

So it was strange that there was nary a wrap dress in her autumn 2004 collection. Save for a black and white Aztec print wrap worn with matching tights and hood, the collection was bereft of DvF's best-seller.

Instead, wrap jackets and wrap coats took centre stage, in light wool jersey in her favourite palette of fuchsia, purple and moss green.

When a designer moves away from the signature style that made them famous, they'd better come up with a good alternative. And though the tailoring was pleasingly quirky - a tartan jacket or a cinchwaisted coat with caped sleeves - it never looked quite as confident as those wrap dresses do.

The dresses that were shown as an alternative to the wrap came in velvet with square necklines and balloon sleeves that looked a little too Maid Marion for comfort.

Instead of making women look modern, von Furstenberg seemed hell bent on making them look medieval instead. How else to explain the preponderance of hoods and snoods?

In orange chiffon, wine red jersey and black gaberdine they came - perfect for a bad hair day, but it is doubtful whether von Furstenberg's glamorous celebrity clients ever suffer the same hair blips as the rest of us. It may have been -4C last night, but you'd never have known it from DvF's starry guests. Rod Stewart's daughter Kimberly chose silver boots to compliment her tanned bare legs and minidress. When you've a limo at your disposal, there's no need for hoods and snoods, however stylish.