The woman who bought Damien Hirst's shoe got a bargain for pounds 3,500. She's already got a buyer, who'll probably pay thousands - which is a bit of a shame as it could have gone to charity. They are a re-issue of a 1972 design made famous by John McEnroe. The auction was a lifelong ambition for me and a labour of love. Alan Grant, 33, Notting Hill Arts Club director from London, wears Wrangler puffa from Portobello market, second-hand shirt, Australian surfer T-shirt, army combats, Muji hat and Nike tennis shoes "I'm not obsessed by trainers: I only have six pairs The ones I'm wearing are my favourite. White is, above all, high-maintenance, and there's always those dry-cleaning bills to consider..
Because although white - particularly in ultra-feminine fabrics - screams sweetness from the rooftops, there is by now, thankfully, a certain edge to the proceedings This can only be a good thing. Fresh and pretty is one thing, after all, yet plain sickly quite another.As these pictures show, if money is no object, there'll be plenty of white designer garments to choose from. Those who'd rather not break the bank, meanwhile, might find a trawl round the second-hand shops for that time-honoured stalwart, the white cotton slip dress, a little more manageable. Think Little Bo-Peep with a hefty dose of sex and high-octane glamour thrown in.And there's the key.
Clements Ribeiro sent out delicate white slip dresses with ebony lace thrown over the top, and Antonio Berardi's show was almost entirely white from start to finish. Balenciaga sent out one fragile beauty after another, all dressed in the palest modern-day Victoriana. White does mean, however, that we are in the throes of quite the most unashamedly pretty moment we've experienced for quite some time.Alexander McQueen's spring/summer collection was an ocean of white ruffles and lace, a far cry from the power-driven good looks we have come to know of the designer. White is for the future, for bright new hopes and a brave new world In reality, this is rather stretching the point. Whenever white comes to the forefront - and this isn't the first time - fashion pundits resort to a spiritual analysis of the non-colour. Remember the dawning of the New Age way back at the end of the Eighties? White stood for purity, for fashion's new-found innocence, for Zen and inner peace, for heaven's sake. This time round, matters millennial are on the tip of every fashion-conscious tongue (yawn).
