The exo-skeletal idea isn't a new one.  McQueen, Chalayan, Marios Schwab have all dabbled with it a bit.  However, I do believe I haven't seen an exo-skeletal inspired collection that hasn't played up on the sinister side of the body's anatomy or the clothes have looked laboured and overly-conceptual.  So Ronald Abdala, who has just launched his first ready to wear AW08-9 collection entitled 'X-Ray', seems to have taken inspirations from the human skeleton and applied them in way where you don't immediately notice the exo-skeletal detailing.  Here, over x-ray backgrounds, we can pick out spinal cords, ribs and muscle lines but take them away and you have elegant dresses with interesting detailing. 

It is all rather grown up, a little bit swishy and quite restrained but something makes you want to look again and though the dresses are probably not for my demographic, I'll be looking out for what he does in the future...