THERE’S no more sombre a collection if we’ve ever seen one. As the designer himself and design house president Robert Duffy appeared on the runway to peel away brown paper to reveal their 56 models in an elaborate showcase, faint echoes of Frederic Sanchez’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” are played.

Standing in perfect formation, the girls waited for the music to really kick in before they took to the runway in sequinned sweaters, sheer lingerie layers, Mongolian lamb-collared shearlings, clear plastic trenches, panne velvet dresses and knit dresses.

The first girl prepared the audience well with that was in store, in a grey sweatshirt with a crisscrossed back, full tweed culottes, ankle socks, and pointy-toe croc pumps.

The designer obviously looked to his last two decades of design, but remained up-to-the-minute with new proportions and detailing.

“It’s refreshing to see something that isn’t trying so hard to be new,” said Jacobs after the show.

“There’s so much striving for newness now that newness feels less new.”

Okay, we get it. But we still wish he had deviated once in a while from the softly uninspiring palette of soft neutrals and muted pastels.

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