His design - a white silk jersey dress that aims to suit any size or shape - is to be auctioned at Yoox.com, with the proceeds going to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a charity that works to promote the rights of transgendered people.

"I wanted to suggest an abstract connection between the dress and the light and the world around it," Hegarty says. "When I imagine the person who will wear the dress, I think of a ghost."