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VIVIENNE WESTWOOD RED LABEL: VIV'S BACK!

SHORT REVIEW: Trashy meets timeless in a collection that was Westwood to the core.
LONG REVIEW: Only in Vivienne Westwood’s world could tiny hotpants in oversized dogtooth check, peaked military caps, studded belts and PVC gloves happily co-exist with voluptuous belted grey coats, pinstripe tailoring, and lean knit dresses. This marriage of the kinky and the corporate worked well. The saucy stuff lent a naughty edge and energy to a show full of great Westwood staples. There were plenty of the curvy cocktail frocks, draped jersey tops and hourglass jackets that Westwood does in such an idiosyncratic way. Her way of cutting and draping is so distinctive that each season, she doesn’t so much create brand new fashion statements, but explores her unique way of doing things a little further. If you want to know how to build a brand which has integrity, you could do worse than study Dame Viv. CLAUDIA CROFT

LUELLA: FIERCE AND FOLKSY

SHORT REVIEW: Goth-meets-girly-meets-grunge, in this parade of Halloween cuties   
LONG REVIEW: Was Luella’s latest muse a teenage prom queen out for a spot of trick or treating? What else should we assume from a show that opened with a model wearing a bell sleeved short coat, orange tights and a pointy witch hat?  Into the mix Luella threw folksy elements. Cowbells hung off bags and rickrack trim (a favourite of the home dress maker of the 1970’s) garnished the yolks of high necked cotton blouses and decorated the waists  and hems of the bell shaped skirts which featured on almost every look.  There were hits of grunge too in the red and black checks used for dresses and tops. It all added up to a collection which was girly but not sickly sweet.   CLAUDIA CROFT

GILES: PRETTY IS SO LAST SEASON

SHORT REVIEW: Giles ditches haute pastiche for a more aggressive kind of glamour.
LONG REVIEW: Last season’s haute couture homage is a distant memory. Giles has moved on to something a little more confrontational. His tailoring came pumped up and padded with quilted jackets and mini skirts. Knits were tattered and distressed and eveningwear was slashed across the body to reveal the skin. Models with sinister veiled faces added to the general disquiet.  CLAUDIA CROFT

HOUSE OF HOLLAND: INVASION OF THE TARTAN ARMY

SHORT REVIEW: Mini kilts rule OK!
LONG REVIEW Yes, there is something of the market stall about the House of Holland look. Young Henry is not the type of designer to fret over technique or clever cutting. But he does have a genius for throwaway chic and right now, he’s in the mood for something punky. The fun started with Holland’s muse Agyness Deyn who opened the show in a purple tartan mini kilt with matching eye patch (created to cover her nasty case of conjunctivitis). Out came mohair mini kilts, cute tartan t-shirt dresses with cascades of ruffles on the bum, and jumbo chord drain pipes with kilt buckles cinching the ankle. There was even a blue mink romper suit to add to the entertainment. If it all sounds a little silly, then just you wait. Come September the high street will be awash with mini kilts and mohair. Holland’s clothes have real youth appeal and this collection was good enough to copy. CLAUDIA CROFT

GARETH PUGH: SHINY, BLACK AND BRILLIANT

SHORT REVIEW: Fantastical and extreme, but with more breadth than usual.
LONG REVIEW Pugh’s vision is uncompromising. He never deviates from his signature scary futurism. His models with their faces painted deathly white with blue lips and eyebrows, looked like the Borg Collective on a big night out. In Pugh’s hands even humble haberdashery can be fashioned into something of wonder. He stitched strips of zippers into sculptural coats entirely from zippers and used shiny metal safety pins in the same way that other designer use sequins, to create a glittering surface for  a dress.  Sure using safety pins as upscale decoration has been done before but Pugh did it with real polish. A Pugh total look is a thing of wonder and this show had a great theatrical energy to it. But beyond the spectacle, many of the components - skinny black trousers, quilted coats and geometric jackets made from small triangles of leather are workable and wearable (if you like your clothes black and shiny). Pugh is slowly commercialising his vision and this collection proved that there’s more to him than Mad Max theatrics. CLAUDIA CROFT

MARIOS SCHWAB'S LONG TALL STORY

SHORT REVIEW: Bold vision and directional silhouettes - but are they wearable?
LONG REVIEW: It’s all about the floor length sheath dress, cut from stretch fabric for Marios Schwab, whose vision is so focused that he didn’t see the need to show much else. Instead he offered variations on his theme. Some dresses had strategically placed slits scissored into them and were worn over jeans, others looked as if their outer layer had been torn off in patches at the hips or bust to reveal prints done in collaboration with the artist Tom Gallant underneath.  The quality of the workmanship was impressive. Some prints were then laser cut to give them the texture of peeling paint. There was plenty of glamour too. Oversized feather shrugs worn to great effect over his taught silhouettes and his finale dresses were encrusted with a crazy paving of tiny mirrors. Schwab’s cut is exacting. All his dresses were all ankle length and cut so tight that the models could only take tiny steps in them. The urge to hobble his women does seem odd from a designer who claimed to be inspired by the early feminist Victorian novella the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. These weren’t practical clothes but they were beautiful and inspiring. CLAUDIA CROFT

CHRISTOPHER KANE GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

SHORT REVIEW: Delivering fantastic piece after fantastic piece.
LONG REVIEW: Christopher Kane cemented his reputation as one of London’s top talents. His autumn/winter 08 collection had many strong elements, from the oversized knit dresses and gilded sweaters that opened the show (proving he can do convincing daywear) to the loose, light and layered chiffon evening dresses decorated with oversized paillettes (sequins by the way are a huge trend for winter 08). Kane has never been a minimalist and his dresses were made from several panels of pale coloured chiffon, which were layered like a veil over the large round paillettes. There was plenty going on but it never looked fussy or cluttered. Instead, the collection had a lightness and a femininity. It also provided a great take on modern decoration. CLAUDIA CROFT

JAEGER'S FACELIFT PULLED A LITTLE TIGHT

SHORT REVIEW Competent but far from scintillating.
LONG REVIEW: A friend of mine once told me that she felt betrayed by her mother’s facelift “I don’t recognise her anymore,” she said. I feel the same about the new look Jaeger. This old lady of the high street might boast of feeling younger and fresher but she still looks a little weird to me. Jaeger is using its new slot on the London Fashion Week schedule as a repositioning device. “We’re not a middle aged high street brand producing polite separates anymore. We can do edgy high fashion too,” is the message. The reality is that whilst the show put on a much more youthful, fashion forward face than Jaeger has worn in years, the brand still has a some way to go before this new look becomes convincing. The rock-and-roll yeti coats and floor length fringed scarves seemed to hint at decadence but not danger. The curvy flares and neat tailored capes were competent although not thrilling and the snakeskin print blouses and matching bell-bottoms looked try-hard. I couldn’t work out who the new Jaeger is for - a racy fifty-something with a Hendrix fixation or a frumpy twenty something who likes pussy bow blouses? CLAUDIA CROFT

TOPSHOP: CEST CHIC

SHORT REVIEW: UK favourite serves up a feast of Balenciaga-esque silhouettes and French Vogue attitude
LONG REVIEW: It’s safe to associate TopShop with teen chic and a youthful approach to fashion and trends but the Unique collection is an opportunity for the brand’s in-house design team to show that it can do more than just re-interpret Kate Moss’s cast offs. The look was urban and sophisticated and didn’t feel teenage at all.  It was dominated by skinny leather trousers, worn with teetering platform boots. These formed the base element of many outfits. They were worn under roomy patterned knits, and great oversized coats. I couldn’t help thinking that many of the proportions could have been inspired by that most fashion forward of French houses Balenciaga and many of the looks reminded me of the way fashion’s most extreme purveyors of edgy chic – the girls from French Vogue wear their clothes. It is unusual inspiration for a UK brand but then again those particular Parisian girls really know how to do modern high fashion. TopShop is not so slouchy in that respect either. There were plenty of trends. The hipster midi skirt should appeal to those who like to play with a new proportion every season, the shaggy jerkin is emerging as a key piece and super faded pale blue jeans made for a new the denim statement. CLAUDIA CROFT

BIBA: FORGING A NEW IDENTITY

SHORT REVIEW Chic but too chic?
LONG REVIEW: Biba under the direction of stylist Hector Castro has gone beyond the slavishly retro. The new Biba is more interested in creating modern fashion statements than re-issuing archive pieces. To that end, the collection focused on brief dresses, cocoon shaped coats and volumous mini skirts which pouffed out from the hips. The youthfulness of these leggy silhouettes was countered by the richness of the collection. It came from the shimmering colours, generous cascades of fabric that tumbled down dresses and the dense floral embroidery, which degraded, into thick fringes of thread. It looked good but the worry is this collection is too sophisticated for the women who might look good in it. CLAUDIA CROFT

Fashion week reports

Coming soon! Or not that soon, in the case of London...

(Picture from Richard Gin)

Carmen Kass shows them how it's done at Giles.

From the moment Mariacarla stepped out in a charcoal grey, perfectly formed dress, it was clear that Giles's show was a cut above. But dying Bambi prints, sequinned berets and confections of tulle perfection aside, it was the models that helped make it all so sleek with Missy Rayder, Jessica Stam and Mariacarla strutting alongside our very own Agyness.

And then came Carmen Kass - with her look so haughty, her walk so smooth, her perfection just more, well, perfect.  Just goes to show, you can be the hottest young thing on the modelling block, but no one can work it like an old school pro.

picture from: (http://www.vogue.co.uk/Shows/Reports/Default.aspx?stID=47407)