Sharon Wauchob Does Dominatrix

PARIS, February 28, 2005 - On Monday afternoon in Paris, Irish designer Sharon Wauchob sent out an edgy collection that would have sent dominatrix -leaning connoisseurs into seventh heaven.

The opening outfit, a transparent top worn with studded jeans above spiked stilettos, was only a whip's crack away from leather belts that intertwined the thighs, or gloves impaled with gold medallions. And then the soundtrack ground out the lyrics "no apologies for weapons of mass destruction".

Or lack thereof - might one add.

But to reduce it all to a celebration of S&M would do injustice to the creativity that Ms. Wauchob displayed. Take a closer look at the complex layering, the plumes that trimmed jackets and gloves, the fringe that fell from deconstructed scarves, or the reptile skin that was intricately pealed back to form a zigzag jacket, and what you would is oodles of talent.

The show packed heat, and that was certainly a welcome contrast to the bone-numbing cold that has gripped Paris.