London Fashion Week – the highlights




So another London Fashion Week is over and I don’t know about you but I’m totally fashioned out. This season has been a good one if only for the sheer variety and numbers of different shows, exhibitions and parties on the schedule. My first big ‘wow’ moment was the Moet Mirage party at the opera house in Holland Park. Quite frankly I have never seen anything like it. This was big-scale luxury hospitality, I mean, it’s LVMH after all, so the champagne flowed faster than the Niger river. As well as the lit-up balloon release (that didn’t quite go according to plan but never mind) and the excitement of standing within whispering distance of Naomi Campbell and Gareth Pugh together, I witnessed a Gareth Pugh-outfitted model wearing a skirt made of full champagne glasses and more fashionistas than you can shake a Chloe bag at descending on the fairground carousel (yes, including you Hilary Alexander). I also managed to snap Misshapes’ Leigh Lezark and Agynes Deyn hanging around ‘DJ’ Giles Deacon, surely one for the youth culture of the noughties photo album…



Next thrill of the week was receiving a ticket to the Luella shop opening. (Sadly no show ticket but this was a good enough substitute.) The shop is lovingly decorated in signature Luella style (e.g. stickers, equestrian touches and Noki artwork) and I was given a sneak preview of the downstairs VIP room where Luella’s ‘special’ clients can shop in comfort without being gawped at by her lesser customers. Here they will be able to order bespoke handbags (which are displayed in antique cabinets – cute!) to their specifications as well as laptop cases and surfboard covers. Oh, and I managed to steal a glimpse into the stockroom where there are shelves and shelves of handbags all encased in pink Luella-logoed dustbags – how very pop art!


The Diane Von Furstenburg shop opening in Bruton Street was another can’t miss affair and it was literally dripping in high-octane glamour. Ms Furstenburg herself is the epitome of elegance – who needs Kate Moss when you can aspire to this amazing businesswoman who looks naturally stunning and manages to perfectly coordinate her dress to the furniture as if it was a happy accident? Certainly not me.


Another international fashion designer being celebrated during London Fashion Week was Karl Lagerfeld. A new film, Lagerfeld Confidential (www.lagerfeldfilm.com) attempts to lift the lid on the enigmatic designer and we were given an advance viewing at the Rex Cinema in Rupert Street. As soon as the film opened with a scene of his study piled ceiling-high with books, magazines and I-pods I knew I would love this film and I can’t wait to see it again when it’s released on 26th October.


Finally, Italian Vogue joined forces with Peroni beer to produce a pop-up exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, one of London Fashion Week’s show venues. This exhibition celebrates fifty years of Italian style as illustrated through the fashion pages of Italian Vogue. The bad news? It’s only on for one week and ends today. Ah well, that’s fashion for you, here today, gone tomorrow.