The Brits putting on the Ritz

they're sweeping all before them. Francesca Fearon reports from Paris on

the impact of the snazziest shock troops in town. Galliano weaves a web

of mystery around an imaginary heroine who becomes his muse for the

season.

IN THE early eighties it was the Japanese designers who laid siege

toParis, sending the custodians of style into a spin with their radical,

nihilistic view of fashion. Japanese minimalism, origami-cutting

technique and a sombre colour palette have had a profound and lasting

impact on design in the world's fashion capital.

In the nineties, however, the Parisians are bowing to a new invasion,

the Brits -- like Napoleon at Waterloo, a threat they didn't take

seriously at first, but now perhaps grudgingly respect. When the

international fashion buyers and press descend on Paris twice a year (as

they have being doing this week) for the ready-to-wear collections, the

most coveted invitations are not just for Chanel and Jean-Paul Gaultier,

but a group of four British designers. John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood,

Rifat Ozbek and the group's latest addition, John Rocha, are the hottest

shows on their schedules.

In Britain they are considered at the peak of their profession. All

are former winners of the British Fashion Designer of the Year; Vivienne

Westwood has won it twice and John Galliano currently holds the title

for the second time. Yet the drawing power Paris has on the

international fashion cognoscenti has lured them across the Channel to

parade their collections on the French catwalks, where they are greeted

with acclaim.

Vivienne Westwood is venerated as one of the six most influential

designers of the century by Women's Wear Daily, the fashion bible. John

Galliano is hailed as a genius, a description with which even Karl

Lagerfeld, who is not in the habit of praising fellow designers, would

concur. When asked by British Vogue if he thought of Galliano as a

genius he said: ''Yes . . . but better not say it too often because it

can make a person lazy.'' In a French industry survey published last

week by Journal du Textil both were voted among the top three designers

on the Paris catwalk.

Westwood and Galliano, observers say, should have their own couture

houses, for their cutting and tailoring skills are firmly rooted in the

craftsmanship of the couturier's atelier. Indeed, rumours flew round

Paris during the couture collections last January that Galliano would

assume the mantle of creative director at Givenchy when Hubert de

Givenchy retires. After digesting the views of industry insiders

including the British press, the house is expected to make the

appointment official in the next month. Certainly his

exotically-tailored suits and devastating ball gowns, like Westwood's

provocative visions of femininity (corsets and padded derrieres), are

treated with reverence in the xenophobic world of Paris couture. And the

respect is mutual.

Rifat Ozbek and John Rocha are the modernists in the group. Ozbek,

backed by Aeffe (the company owned by Italian designer Alberta

Ferretti), originally took his collections to the Milan runway where

Katharine Hamnett now shows. Then three seasons ago he switched to Paris

and realised a long-held dream. John Rocha transferred to Paris last

season. From his base in Dublin it proved to be no more expensive than

showing in London, but wisdom persuaded him that Paris would reach a

larger audience. ''It was a commercial decision and received a good

response,'' says Rocha. ''Paris is the centre of fashion with more

customers from Europe and the Far East.'' Ozbek certainly admits it's

tougher, but the move was worth taking, judging by the growth of his

reputation in France.

Ozbek's collections are a heady blend of sculpted shapes in futuristic

fabrics with ethnic touches often inspired by his Turkish roots. For

spring he produced shiny fencing jackets and little dresses with sprigs

of floral embroidery. The ideas are sexy and witty with clothes made to

be mixed rather than matched. That collection made a feature of the

tyranny of the shoulder pad. The collection he unveils in Paris will

take padding further, using it to sculpt chiffon in a theme described as

''space princess with an ethnic twist''.

There is a rich textural feel to Rocha's collections in the way he

mixes traditional and modern materials like hand-painted velvets,

flannel, pearlised leather and a matt nylon. His ideas are often

inspired by Celtic imagery and draw on Ireland's innate tailoring

skills. His autumn collection, though, which is scheduled just before

Galliano's on Friday, focuses on his flair for creating tender

silhouettes from combinations of fragile fabrics and lush textures.

Galliano weaves a web of mystery around an imaginary heroine who

becomes his muse for the season. Westwood's muses, however, are

historical creatures with intellectual leanings much like the designer

herself. This season she promises to be the French cocotte Ninon de

L'Enclos, offering the designer a wealth of historical references for

her collection.