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   The modern influences she is known for comes out in her Mondrian-inspired pieces such as her cream–light blue–red colour-blocked wool jersey strapless dress with bands of navy trim separating the blocks. It wasn’t just a random throwing together of the pieces, either: if you look closely, you will see that the blocks of colour on the front of the dress forms the shape of a golf tee or a champagne glass with a long stem. There’s a method behind all of her "madness", after all. Its sister design, a long-sleeve mini-dress has, at first blush, a helter-skelter theme, but here too, you will notice that a half-moon circular motif in the design follows the lines of the body and gives the garment definition. Youth will be duly served if a young woman decides to buy her fitted abstract red stretch tulle (with navy trim) T-shirt or the blue tweed trouser that came with. This outfit is sexy without being salacious.
   And she still managed to surprise us with her ability to rise to the challenge of creatively pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Ms Hian demonstrated much creativity with her just right interpretation of Jackson Pollack’s splatter-paint signature style in her designs. Instead of knocking you over the head with the overall splatter-print effect, she made the colourful splatters small enough that you had to get up close and personal to get the full effect of the garments in question. My favourite pieces in this grouping were her sleeveless powder blue stretch silk splatter print dress with a contrasting navy trim, a navy silk duchesse–satin strapless gown, and her abstract powder blue halter top evening gown with splatter print and a navy trim detailing. Her red silk duchesse satin zip front jacket has the potential to be one of the hits of the collection. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if Ms Hian, in later designs, incorporates and build upon the splatter-paint theme, perhaps using it as a signature lining for her jackets, a contrasting Obi belt or in some other diversifying permutation.
   And as in life, the past is never far behind. In this collection, she revisited several classic Hian designs, updating them along the way. The spiral stripes motif of three seasons ago was very much present in several of her evening pieces and the bat-wing cape-like sleeves on some of her other pieces are quite reminiscent of her designs two seasons ago. She even touched on certain aspects of her spring 2004 designs, specifically the palazzo pant, and incorporated them into this presentation. Another standout design within the collection, one that I liked very much, was her strapless crème dress with small vertical stripes and a red trim band that highlighted the bust area. Pinstripes on women have always been a turn-on, and this one really, again, popped.
   Fall collections are generally centred on black and earth tones (50 shades of brown and green). Ms Hian emphatically steered clear of these colours, choosing instead to go with what are considered “spring” colours. She didn’t show a great many coats or suiting options, choosing again to stick with the cohesiveness of her vision. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that the fabulously tailored coats and professional, workplace suiting that she generally show is back at the studio. Unlike certain designers this season who saw fit to show every piece of design he came up with, making for a long, brutally cruel experience, Ms Hian stayed on message and edited the collection accordingly. •

Phillip D. Johnson is features’ editor of Lucire.

Pinstripes on women have always been a turn-on, and this one really, again, popped

For more information on Paula Hian, Inc., log on to www.paulahian.com. For sales appointments, please call Paula Hian Designs at 1 215 487-2762 or by email at paula@paulahian.com.