Claire Barker’s 2010 winter collection brings radiant romantic light to winter’s gloom – painting out dull winter palettes with hopeful, vibrant shades inspired by the 1965 classic film Dr Zhivago.

‘A Song for Lara,’ is infused with Parisian joie de vivre as reflected in the clothes of Zhivago’s Tanya. The collection references the scene where, on Tanya’s return to Moscow from the City of Lights, her luminous light coral coat and hat transform the endlessly grey Moscow streetscape.

Designer Claire Barker says; “I wanted to create a range with that same hauntingly wonderful impact, so that a woman wearing my designs for this season will feel she is transforming the winter streets.”

Barker is firmly pro-glamour and anti-bulk, and much of her dress, jacket and coat-rich Winter 2010 collection is constructed in silk, cashmere and angora. 

Barker’s work merges a European sensibility with an Oriental playfulness, and new, striking and unique Claire Barker prints cohesively transmit the collection’s theme of optimism.

Shapely, tailored garments continue to be made ‘just so’ through fresh – and, this season, suitably Baltic – finishing, like braided borders on epaulettes, zip detail on belts and sleeve heads, and especially designed woven wool tassels.

From the dramatic purple tones of her Lara coat to the sultry chic of her Jaguar dress Claire manages to convey a sense of liveliness which neither undermines nor overshadows her ongoing commitment to femininity and sophistication in her garments.

“I want women to feel beautiful and sexy when they wear a Claire Barker design. I want my customers to celebrate their individuality and beauty without ever feeling overstated or uncomfortable. I never indulge myself to design for design’s sake. I would never create something that I wouldn’t feel beautiful wearing myself.”

Barker opened her own workshop late last year, enabling her to continue to offer the unique combination of a very competitive price point in unremitting quality.  “One of my most important concerns is that women be offered a real choice between the chain store lines and the expensive high fashion designer labels,” she says.

With this in mind each beautifully crafted garment has been created to work in cohesion with existing wardrobe pieces to convey a sense of timeless style and effortless chic.

Lovers of the classic, elegant and feminine will find ‘A Song for Lara’ signed off in Claire Barker’s inimitable style at the Claire Barker boutique in O’Connell St, Auckland City.