If there is one fibre begging for a place in every woman's wardrobe this season, it is cashmere. Currently the favourite for knitwear, cashmere is turning up for every imaginable item, from chunky, comforting socks and slippers to the finest gauge vests. This is, therefore, a very good moment for American-born, Italian-based designer Rebecca Moses because cashmere lies at the centre of her collections and has long been her favourite choice of material. Moses is only beginning to win an audience in Ireland, where she is being carried by Brown Thomas, Dublin for the first time this season. In Milan, her shows are a twice-yearly delight marked by the designer's sense of fun and her enchanting drawings which are used as invitations, backdrops and even, on one occasion, as the basis for a short cartoon film. "I love to make people laugh," she explains. "If fashion isn't joyful, then we're not doing the right thing. I think if you're going to do a presentation, then you must let people have fun, and that's what I try to do."

Rather than featuring a catwalk, her shows are often static events, shown in a Milan apartment with models adopting poses in different rooms. A New Yorker, she moved to the north-Italian city after falling in love with a mill owner from whom she had been purchasing yarns; the couple married last year and now have a six-month-old son called Maximilian. Moses had already developed her own line of sportswear in the US when she began working as a designer for Italian label Genny in April 1993. Moving to Italy made sense for her since she has a sense of colour which, at least where luxury clothing is concerned, could be classified as distinctly un-American. Most of Moses's compatriots tend to be highly conservative in this area and work within a restricted palette where black, grey, stone and other neutrals predominate. By comparison, this designer adores bold shades, especially when one is placed next to another. "I just love colour and its scope. That's what is at the core of my work. I think the first thing any person sees is that - you see before you touch or put on a garment; colour is a very important draw."

She insists that in the Rebecca Moses range, there are no favourites. "If there were, I wouldn't be doing 35 colours," she says, adding, "when I see them together, I see things dancing. If I take one colour and put it against another, it takes on a different life. Pink against green, for example, changes its tonality." She argues against the tradition of fine clothing only being available in a very restricted range of shades, pointing out that there is no reason why this should be the case. "The old mentality was that if you bought expensive materials like cashmere, they had to be in solid colours like black or camel and I said, why? If you love chartreuse, why not have it in cashmere? I always have a rainbow table in my in-store boutiques."

Braving colour, especially in a decade when monochrome shades hold almost total sway in fashion, demands a certain degree of courage. Moses says she finds new customers often begin by introducing a small accent of bold colour before gradually allowing more and more into their wardrobe. "Maybe they'll start with an accent sweater or a cashmere scarf and find that looks great. Everyone gets into colour in their own way; you have to feel confident about how to use it. We've blacked people out so much that we've lost our nerve over colour. I want to bring a sense of happiness back into fashion." In addition to the reintroduction of happiness, the current Rebecca Moses mantra runs, One world, One wardrobe. "Style is now universal. Beside the concept of colour," she explains, "is wardrobing. I believe you can keep one closet all the year round. Like, my cashmeres stay there all year. What matters is how to present this to women, especially when they are packing for travel. It's very important to decide what's important in your wardrobe, what do you really need? You can do it in a very concise way."

For Moses, the secret of running a tight wardrobe, both at home and while travelling, is to sort out the primary elements and stick with these. "Women buy individual items today, the piece of the season, not a complete wardrobe. People don't wear ensembles any more; they're paring down and that's a very noticeable change in style. I find people want more comfort, luxury and simplicity in getting dressed." Travel has become something of a leitmotif in every Rebecca Moses collection "because whether for work or pleasure, I think we're all girls on the go now. Women who buy my clothes are generally affluent and their tendency is to be mobile. If you've the right wardrobe, you can go anywhere - Capri for the weekend or the opening of the opera at La Scala."

Matching this attitude is the quality of materials employed by Moses. "I think people today want the best of the best," she argues. "They'd rather have less but the finest, whether clothes, or doctor, or holidays, or school for their kids. But I'm there to help them, at least as regards dressing. I'm 40 years old now; when my friends and I were in our 20s and 30s, we had different aspirations. We'd like to have everything but if we have to make do with less, then let's make it the best. Luxury is where it's at right now." Colourful and luxurious, Rebecca Moses's clothes attract a diverse clientele, "from young models to working mothers. My mother is 68 now and to me is so young; she's a chic woman and loves my clothes. When I travel, I notice the incredible range of ages of my customers. They want very good quality and I sense they're wearing their clothes and not the other way round."

Rebecca Moses's work is now available at Brown Thomas, Dublin