Sep 2, 2002/ FW/ --- When someone says fashion, mathematics is the farthest from everyone's mind.

Brian Rennie, ESCADA Design Director and Wolfgang Ley proved that if you apply mathematical fractals in fashion, you can have a great collection - modern, sleek and sophisticated, all that is Escada.

Debuting its Spring 2003 Couture collection, entitled "Homage to Rome" to the public and the press at Alta Moda, Rome's Fashion week, the runway exploded with fresh, elegant and almost magical looks from Escada.

Taking inspiration from the golden 1920s, Brian Rennie sent lace, tulle and chiffon on the runway, embellished with sequins and pearls.

Radiant embroidered stars, from the center of filigree fringes tumble like shooting stars on the gowns.

As the models walk towards the audience, you can see the stars, the flowers, the splashing water, the cascade of gold coins.

As they come closer, you see the geometric pattern that made the shapes - the fractals which is the basis of the design.

It started with one bead, or one stitch of embroidery, or one Swarowski crystal, then the figure grows form, from one stage to the next.

Taking the original figure and modifying it or adding to it, "the star, the fountain, the horse's head" begin to take shape.

The process is repeated recursively (the same way over and over again), looking like it was done an infinite number of times.

It is a work of art. It is mathematics. It is logical.

And as you listen to the background music saying, "You're just to good to be true, can't take my eyes of you," you are drawn to the magic of the collection, wondering whether you should look at the bigger picture, and admire the gown, or look at the extraordinary geometric figures inside the design.

The fractals beckon to you, because "it's just too good to be true" that there is a mathematical equation used to create the gown!

As the models walked off the runway I cannot help but think of Bertrand Russel, who in 1907 wrote in The Study of Mathematics: Philosophical Essays, "Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty."

After almost 100 years since it was written, it still holds true as proven by this collection.

As the show ended, and Brian Rennie took his bow, you begin to wonder - is he a designer or a mathematician, or both?

It is not surprising that a collection like this should come first from Escada which has historically believed in using high technology in creating fashion items.

Fractals, which is a relatively new branch of mathematics was discovered by the Polish-born French mathematician Benoit B. Mandelbrot in the 1970's. Mandelrot coined the term "fractal" in 1975.

Mandelbrot's fractal geometry provides a mathematical model for many complex forms found in nature such as the stars and the fountains that were shown in the Escada collection.

With that in mind, I wonder if there is a place for a PhD in Mathematics at the Escada organization?

Being a forward-thinking company, I will not be surprised if they already have one in their staff.

Escada