NEW YORK, Sep 8, 2005 - Believe it or not, the very first show for this Spring 2006 season took place in a Harlem mansion, a somewhat unusual venue, but really fresh surprise.

You certainly remember Katsumi and Malcolm, a label formerly designed in Manhattan and now headquartered in Tokyo. Well, Malcolm Harris, who has been designing both ready-to-wear and made-to-order pieces for more than ten years is the same Malcolm as in Katsumi and Malcolm, just as in Mal Sirrah. He has just dropped the second syllable in his first name and spelt his surname backwards for this new solo project.

Cool wasabi green, whispering canary yellow and antique rose are the tones for this collection which focuses on the urge to regain calm via color.

This color therapy complements very well the research for true simplicity that the designer seems to have undertaken in a very sincere way, trying to fight the blatant turmoil and heightened volume of today’s world with a wardrobe designed to reveal the delicate girl inside, her fragile tenderness and her soft charm.

Gingham or crinkled silks, sometimes very finely pinstriped, sometimes sequined with craft, are interpreted in short dresses, jackets and shorts. These refined pieces, especially in their structure, give an overall Impression of simplicity that is the sign for a truly mature design. A light mint organdy overlay comes in nicely on a tuxedo shirt inspired shift dress, a sleeveless tee-shirt is happily valanced on the shoulders, a very short charmeuse dress worn under a short silk trench reveals a contrasted length in the back.

Inspired by the sixties’ looks, Malcolm Sirrah reinterprets clothes for today, showing much personality and pertinence. His cocktail and evening looks might be considered less convincing, but there is real coherence in this collection and most certainly a talent to follow although some sleeve might have deserved more care to be really splendid.

Although Mr. Harris likes to describe his pseudonym as an “alter ego”, Mal Sirrah could well be just a rosebud that will astonish and enchant when it becomes a mature flower.

The soothing wooden décor together with the smell of real white lilacs in which this presentation was set, tuned by refined Malcolm McLaren music are the atmosphere and the very place where Mal Sirrah is working and growing.

In this setting and dispositions who could be surprised that Mal Sirrah’s future will be both successful and astonishing?