PARIS, Oct 13, 2002/ FWD/ --- Stella McCartney has found her voice again.

After two shaky collections got her new, eponymous label with Gucci Group off to a slow start at retail level, Monday's low-on-celebrity, high-on-fashion show should put her back on course.

It will also help the 30-year-old designer regain footing lost to her former co-designer Phoebe Philo, who has been making quite a name for herself at Chloe since McCartney's departure.

McCartney's most striking fashion signature has always been her ability to mix Savile Row-ish tailoring with vintage-inspired delicate lingerie silk camis, chiffon blouses and dresses.

She's also known for her love of sporty and functional Ragga Girl bits and bobs: pique polo tops, sports shorts, voluminous bomber jackets, sassy bikinis, utility backpacks, and great swathes of gold chains hung from cheeky little dresses or down the back of skintight trousers.

These strengths are exactly where she turned her attention for the core looks of this collection.

Prince of Wales check turned up as wide tailored culottes, minis, and overblown shorts worn with filmy chemises in washed-out shades of pistachio and gray.

A POW trouser suit, with a slim short jacket, had long skinny trousers with ragged chiffon braiding running up the outside seam.

The chiffon matched the delicate chemise worn on top to create a cool and contemporary workday look.

Sporty looks played with volume, such as tops that were tight through the body with billowing or oversized sleeves, and layering, as did the summer dresses.

Stella also explored new territory though, creating cool, sexy cutaway leotards, made from a patchwork of pastel satins and stretch, which she teamed with short skirts or voluminous harem pants.

They looked great and fit well with the active-wear, body-conscious feel of the season.

Overall, this was a pure Stella, very sellable collection.

The designer even admits that it's no coincidence that she just opened her first store in New York. "I worked on the shop and this collection at the same time," she told FWD.

"I'm doing shoes, bags, accessories and working on a perfume. I'm enjoying the process of thinking in retail terms. It can be hard, but with this collection, as I designed it I imagined it in my New York shop."

She continued, "I was also trying to be more relaxed with the clothes. It was time for me to move on from floaty, hippy trippy stuff. Basically it's me going back to my roots, designing things I want to wear, and for women who want to wear beautiful pieces that I hope are timeless, and special."

The pretty finale dresses were, Stella joked backstage, "ideas for my 'going away dress.'"

She is marrying long-time boyfriend Alasdhair Willis later this year, and just to dispel any rumors to the contrary, she is not pregnant, a point she proved by swigging champagne and smoking a cigarette backstage.

For the first time, her father Sir Paul McCartney didn't attend her show.

When asked where he was Stella joked, "He's on tour. He has a job too you know!"

Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney