Every time this newspaper features photographs of models wearing barely any clothes at all, letters of complaint are received. The outrage expressed invariably takes the same form: this, announces the letter-writer, is not fashion. Well, sorry to disagree, but actually it is. Fashion in the current decade has been about steadily stripping away layers. Whereas during the 1980s women were encouraged to wear more (and bigger) - shoulder pads, giant gold buttons, endless layers of boucle - now the mood has turned in favour of minimal dressing. Today, less is best.
The strongest trend during the past year has been towards sheer clothing, using materials which reveal as much as they hide. Organza, silk georgette, chiffon and lace; these will be recognised as the favourite fabrics of 1997. One consequence is that underwear has become much more important, because inevitably more is now on show. Some 18 months ago, for example, when sheer skirts and dresses first appeared in international collections, there was a demand to create suitable briefs for women. Big knickers, otherwise politely known as tap pants, were the outcome.
In fact, interest in lingerie as outerwear already existed, particularly among models. Many of them had taken to wearing slips and camisole tops without the addition of anything else. Found in second-hand shops and flea markets, these pieces continue to be popular. Typically, Irish model Sonia Reynolds recently turned up at a dinner wearing a lacetrimmed slip she had picked up at A Store Is Born on Dublin's South William Street. A shrink-to-fit cardigan is the favourite teaming item for this style of dressing.
Designers traditionally take careful note of what their models are wearing, which is why variants on the lingerie look began to appear in collections around the globe. A year ago, the late Princess of Wales appeared at a dinner in New York wearing a navy silk bias-cut slip dress with lace trim around the neckline, designed for her by Dior's John Galliano. It had tiny satin shoulder straps and, in the opinion of some critics, looked as though she had forgotten to pack the appropriate dress.
Galliano is not the only designer to have taken to slips. Irish-Australian Collette Dinnegan, who now shows in Paris, started her career in Sydney designing lingerie and this background is evident. Her slips are exquisitely embroidered and beaded, but they still retain a hint of the boudoir. Similarly Stella McCartney, appointed head of Chloe during the summer, made her name producing lace-trimmed slips. Shown in October, her first collection for the French house was full of variants on the same theme. McCartney has acknowledged the principal source of inspiration was beautiful pieces of secondhand underwear found in London's markets.
That is why these photographs represent so perfectly the mood of the moment in fashion. They were shot in Dublin by Anthony Mascola, creative director with international hair group Toni & Guy.
A dozen Irish models were used for this session, appearing here in print for the first time. Last year, Mascola worked with former model agent, Eddie Shanahan (now with Arnotts), on a shoot for Toni & Guy and was so happy with the results that he and his team returned to Dublin last month. These pictures are the result and they are expected to appear during 1998 in a wide range of publications such as Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire. Prior to that, braving letters from indignant readers, they are published in The Irish Times. And yes, before you ask, this really is fashion right now.