You can leave his coat on

Martin Grant is one of Europe's most respected fashion designers. Pictures / Julian Kingma And Supplied

Martin Grant didn't move to Paris from Australia, land of the bikini, just so he could make coats - but it was an incentive.

"A coat is the first and last thing people see you in. It's the perfect piece of clothing. It's probably one of the reasons I moved to Paris. Australia doesn't have the same need for coats as Europe and the States. But the move was also about being closer to fashion buyers and the press," says the Melbourne-born designer, whose designs are stocked at Scotties, Lorne St.

His work was one of the highlights of last week's L'Oreal-sponsored Melbourne Fashion Festival. Sharing the stage with some of Australia's leading designers - Easton Pearson, Nicola Finetti and Toni Maticevski - Grant's designs were pared back and relatively understated.

Part of a parade at Pavilion Waterfront City at Melbourne's Docklands, his offerings were a contrast to the circus-like environment created under a large tent. Despite the carnival atmosphere, Grant showed restrained sophistication.

"Martin has always had a clear sense of what he wants to achieve. There's no great urgency for him to reinvent himself each season like many other designers. He has this innate ability to understand form and construction," says Katie Somerville, the curator of the Martin Grant Paris exhibition, on show at the Ian Potter Centre in Melbourne's Federation Square.

Melbourne-born and bred, 39-year-old Grant has become one of Europe's most respected fashion designers. Soon after arriving in Paris in 1994, Grant was noticed by Andre Leon Talley, editor at large for American Vogue. He now supplies leading boutiques in Europe, Japan and the United States, as well as designing the in-house collection for Barneys, New York.

The self-taught fashion designer and graduate in sculpture from the Victorian College of the Arts boasts celebrity clients such as Lee Radziwill, Jackie Onassis' sister.

Opening his show was a silk-jersey evening dress in gunmetal blue. Ingeniously supported underneath by a corset, the knee-length design appeared to defy gravity.

Also impressive was his teal blue satin dress, evocative of the early 1960s. But unlike the fitted designs of this period, Grant's present a fluid outline.

A short-cropped felt wool jacket was combined with a knee-length jersey skirt, with a gathered hemline.

For Grant, the process of design is fundamental. "I still make each prototype, from the toile to the pattern. I treat each design as though it was a piece of sculpture, working directly on the mannequin." His inspiration tends to be the post-war designs of Christian Dior and Balenciaga.

"I rarely buy today's fashion magazines or look at what other designers are doing. I often revisit a certain silhouette."

The empire line has been a recurrent feature in Grant's designs for many seasons. His high-waisted boucle woollen coat with silk black trim was shown in two versions at the festival. One was knee-length, the other design worn as a cropped jacket with grey silk satin slim pants. Grant's gold-pleated silk skirt, worn with a black fitted jersey top, was a parade highlight. Designs such as the Liz dress showed a more relaxed side. Grant's nectar-coloured silk dress showed true artistry. But it was the coat that formed the basis of his show, whether a satin trench coat, fitted woollen jacket or a knee-length coat with fine detailing.

One of the coats also captured Grant's subtle humour, with the back appearing as two separates, a jacket and short skirt.

It was his Mary Poppins coat designed in 1994 that was discovered by Leon Talley. It has become Grant's signature as well as gaining him an international reputation.

* Martin Grant Paris runs until May 7 at the NGV Ian Potter Centre, Federation Sq, Melbourne.