The natural light that streamed through the roof of the Brewer Street car park highlighted the white space adding greater impact to the bold elegance of Berardi’s collection. Oodles of black looks were teased out of the darkness by white segueing to oxblood, flame red, a little blush then back to black… Berardi’s heroine harmonised her lightness in gently feminine gauzy skirts and dresses while embracing her dark side with the masculine toughness of leather and rivet holes or a chain mail vest. Strong-shouldered sharp-edged jackets powered up skirts and cropped trousers and were cinched in tightly at the waist all the while focusing on the neck and back as erogenous zones. She is displaying all aspects of her complex personality in transition. Her lips are courageously bold on an otherwise bare face and poker-straight hair is starkly scraped back in a severe side parting. Yet, she wears her fragility on her delicate lace sleeve shrouding the inner core of steel running through the collection taking form in the stiletto-heeled point-toed ankle boot. Berardi termed it a ‘new assertiveness’ and ‘intense femininity’ and proceeded to play on this paradox applying it to hemlines, ruffles, velvet, leather, Chantilly lace and Italian macramé. He can incorporate multiple aesthetics and textures in a look because of his expert cutting so he nails it more often than not. And this, coupled with his embracing of the female form, is as you might expect from a half-Sicilian who trained under Galliano. The final look, a clinging, navy floor length dress, softened at the neckline in black lace is brazenly black and blue. The transformation is complete - she has emerged dignified but bruised. And there was nothing weak about this girl, this stylish, sexy rebel full of femininity, toughness, darkness and lightness. She is human shadow, Jekyll & Hyde.