Photo by Harry Borden

Every editor in town has fallen head over heels for Roland Mouret, a Frenchman who (okay) lives in London—“It lets me be more French,” he says gnomically. Now 42, he has had just about every job there is in fashion, from model to art director. “When you see the other designers,” he says, “you understand your limits, you know what is you and what isn’t.” His fall collection, currently flying out of Bendel’s, takes a razor to the candy-coated mod that dominated the fall season, reimagining pop as something a little more S&M and patent-leather. “Anyone from Posh Spice to Aerin Lauder could wear it,” raves Lucy Sykes. “I really love that New York women love fashion like it is sweets,” responds Mouret. "They feel they need to possess fashion. For a designer, that is the best.” (From the September 22, 2003 issue of New York Magazine)