Designer's peace of mind

He claimed he wanted to open people's eyes to the plight of the Middle East.

The Polish designer sent a succession of scantily-clad models down the catwalk in designs drawing on Muslim, Israeli and American influences to open London Fashion Week on Saturday.

Quite what naked bottoms could achieve in terms of promoting peace was not explained. Given the suffering of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, some of his audience might have felt one design, in particular, a trifle exploitative.

The biker-style jacket, in the colours of the American flag, featured the chequered design of the traditional Arab headdress and was worn with a matching backless microskirt. Another model had her body tattooed with Star of David designs interspersed with squiggles suggesting the Arabic and Hebrew alphabets.

But his final creation drew spontaneous applause. It was a white evening gown adorned with two doves of peace, one trailing feathers stained blood-red, the plumage of the other forming a garland round the model's head.

Arkadius called his collection United States of Mind, and appeared at the end in Arab dress decorated with two U.S. flags, to declare: 'This show is to do with the politics of the world, to do with how the Middle East is treated by the so-called West.'