Vintage Sixties from Jacobs

If you thought the Oscars were the best place to grab publicity, then you're missing a trick. Nicole Kidman's pink Chanel ballgown got half the coverage of Winona Ryder's outfits in the week she appeared in court on a shoplifting charge.

And what did the actress choose to wear throughout her trial? Marc Jacobs. The designer's luxurious, ladylike aesthetic was perfect for maintaining that crucial air of innocence - even if Winona was found guilty.

Jacobs is Manhattan's darling, dressing uptown New Yorkers in neat little coats and slingbacks and downtown New Yorkers in his grungier diffusion line, Marc.

He is also the darling of the British high street: no other designer has been more copied in recent seasons than he.

Last night's show was undeniably the hottest ticket of New York fashion week. So what will the world and its wife be wearing in six months' time? For autumn 2003, it will be back to the Swinging Sixties - only without the swing. Whether the models had been told to walk like zombies is a moot point: their faces blank and expressionless, their arms clamped firmly to their sides, they looked like gangly robots in knee boots.

Each wore a wig in a different colour from their natural hair, so that British model Jaquetta Wheeler's own mother would have been hard-pushed to recognise her under her long black fringe.

If orange, purple and navy are your favourite hues, then next autumn is the season for you.

And if your legs are your best asset, you'll be in heaven - or maybe outer space.

From trapeze-line tank dresses to the briefest of pelmet minis, not one single outfit came even close to covering the knee, while most hovered unapologetically near the crotch.

The strong colours and graphic shapes - circles, computer prints and two-tone piping - all made for a spectacular show. But for the average woman, it was the unfriendliest collection Jacobs has sent out in a long time.

There cannot be many combos scarier than a tiny orange miniskirt worn with electric blue tights, but such is Jacob's influence that we'll all be embracing the Mary Quant revival come October.

Despite a front row which included Liv Tyler, Kirsten Davis, P Diddy and off-duty supermodels Carmen Kass and Helena Christensen, it just wasn't the same without Winona.

The actress, who is always a fixture at Jacobs's shows, was busy completing her community service programme in Los Angeles.