Expert Eye: Hailwood

Adrian Hailwood's comeback show didn't make the same noise of old, but its title "A Bigger Splash", sums up the stylistic impact of his return.

Here was Hailwood all grown-up. Less rock n roll, more assured.

The cool kids, who enjoyed the rock n roll vibe of his 80s-themed shows of old, may not find it as easy to follow his new tune, but they too should grow up. They'll find there's still plenty of vintage Hailwood to enjoy, but with a more mature and enduring aesthetic now in evidence. Four or five years back, Hailwood was packing out The Big Tent, combining graphic screenprinted imagery, black and grey panelled skinny denims and hard-edged cocktail frocks. These are still in the repertoire - we saw the latter in his entry at the Diet Coke Little Black Dress show - but so too are more elegant dresses, more elegantly finished.

Facing tough times after his design business grew rapidly from a small scale operation, Hailwood had entered a business relationship with mainstream-minded Annah Stretton. This unlikely sounding combination seemed to be the ideal solution to combining creativity with commerce, but the arrangement is now severed.

After a break from Fashion Week, a happier Hailwood is now back controlling his own destiny and determined to play to his strengths. He's invested in top-notch fabrics and this commitment to quality showed in some stunning silk dresses that owed more to the 70s than his old- favourite 80s. While the photo-realism of David Hockney's LA pool series paintings was the jumping off point for the collection, the end result was modern dressing with a retro twist, rather than a pastiche of the past.

The new Hailwood was warmly received in his much anticipated show in the smaller of Fashion Week's two runway spaces, including by a few frock queens who in the past haven't been big fans. By widening his reference points, but still retaining his signature staples, Hailwood has found a way forward. All power to one of the nice guys of the fashion world.

His strong shouldered silhouette was of the moment, but owed its inspiration to an earlier era. Models in elegant turbans recalled poolside glam of the 70s, but also the end of the Deco era, as underlined with a screenprint on a cream batwing dress.

A navy and cream print day dress had doubly capped sleeves and a ruffle snaking down the body. Mannered but fitting. The same print was used in a man's shirt. The classic Wedgwood blue Willow Pattern print was screened onto a grey marle oversized T and also a silver gown, with the china pattern following the round of the neckline like a giant necklace.

The strongest pieces were the silks, a cute navy jersey with pink encircling the neck in three stripes, a tan and black check wrap dress worn with a tie-back camel-coloured wool jacket, and a pale denim suit of stovepipe pants and a fitted jacket with giant heart-shaped collar, which I imagine the sassy Kate Jackson from Charlie's Angels would have loved.

I fancied the silk dresses , one plumy-pink with a black see-through panel at the midriff and ladylike raspberry and black versions with vertical flat-front pleating and The Wave dress, with its draped scalloped overskirt.

Hailwood's old favourite combination of electric blue and black had an outing, but looked freshest when a blue wool hoodie coat was worn over black softened with nude also. Scarlett silk with nude was another nice colour mix in smart separates.

The same red heart-embossed fluid silk was also used in a showstopper full-length red-carpet gown for an up-to-date Alexis Carrington.