His sleek and minimal tailoring has earned him plenty of acclaim, but designer Richard Nicoll is increasingly evident on the red carpet too. He talks us though his take on modern glamour

Send an actress an invite and she’ll be reaching for a frothy confection of tulle and lace before you can say RSVP. ‘Actresses treat the red carpet as a fairytale moment and they dress in an almost fantasy way, which is fine,’ says designer Richard Nicoll. ‘But I think it’s more interesting when people do more modern things on the red carpet, something that is grounded in a contemporary reality.’

Nicoll's resort 2013 collection was a perfect example of that sleek and updated red-carpet look, with dresses that were fresh pops of fun, printed jacquard cut in a classic and totally appropriate way for wearing to evening events. So much so, in fact, that the pieces – which Nicoll describes as ‘vaguely futuristic but with a late 1960s evening look, sexy but not obvious, with a sense of cool, a sense of casual’ – became one of the London-based designer’s most photographed looks: Keira Knightley wore one of his mid-length styles with cut-out panels in an orange jacquard fabric while promoting Anna Karenina, French actress and singer Joséphine de La Baume wore a full-length green number to the British Fashion Awards and Chinese actress Liu Shi Shi wore a knee-length version to a Shanghai awards ceremony.

Other designers with a modern take on eveningwear include Erdem Moralioglu – actress Sienna Miller stood out from the flouncy crowd in a playful Erdem creation at the 2013 Golden Globes – and Raf Simons at Dior, who, as well as famously dressing Jennifer Lawrence for red-carpet season, made sure that Marion Cotillard (at the 2013 Baftas and the Golden Globes) and Charlize Theron (at the 2013 Oscars) were attired in elegant yet directional gowns.  ‘Since Raf Simons took over at Dior (below) there has been a shift towards a more modern take on eveningwear,’ says Nicoll. ‘Since that first couture collection he did with the bustiers and the trousers, people have been doing more interesting things.’ 

‘I’ve always loved trousers on the red carpet if you’re brave enough to do it,’ Nicoll continues. Earlier this year, Beyoncé took to the red-carpet at the 2013 Grammys in a modern, monochrome and understated trouser suit by London designer Osman. Of course, music industry types are generally more daring dressers than film stars – see Björk, Florence Welch, Lady Gaga – but it does feel that actresses are finally beginning to seek out alternatives to the bandeau-top-with-full-flouncy-skirt model they have favoured for years. Hurrah.