The queen of British fashion Vivienne Westwood launched her first collection in nine years on day five of London Fashion Week. See all the highlights of the catwalks here...
Front row guests: Kimberly Stewart, Kelly Osbourne and Lily Allen
DAY FIVE
• A potent cocktail of politics and rock 'n' roll received loud applause at Vivienne Westwood's show.
The doyenne of British fashion sent the opening model strutting down the runway in Guantanamo-orange underpants emblazoned with the slogan "Fair Trial My Arse".
"We need a whole change in ethic, otherwise we really are heading for disaster," said the iconic designer, who often peppers her shows with political messages.
Westwood, who first came to public prominence in the 1970s with her bondage-inspired and safety-pin-laden creations for the Sex Pistols, said her autumn-winter Red Label collection owed much to the punk era.
Microskirts and minidresses were worn with knee-high leather boots, while animal spiral cuts gave the clothes a wild look.
"The look is rock 'n' roll and although inspired by the 70's is definitely about now. It's about modern girls going out and painting the town red," read the notes accompanying the show.
• Earlier designer Ashish Gupta sent his models down the catwalk wearing crazy spectacles. The Indian designer said his inspirations included disco music and folk embroidery.
Models wear crazy glasses designed by Ashish
• Meanwhile Luella Bartley recreated a rural fantasy world complete with pixie hats and witch dresses.
The British designer, returning to London for the second season in a row, said ideas for the outfits came from her home in Cornwall, southwest England and visits to a witchcraft museum.
"I wanted to keep that cartoonish element that is the Luella character, that sugary, cute element, but make it sicker, darker, with a bit more horror," Bartley said.
High-waisted trousers vied with short dresses and bell-style layered skirts in colours progressing from girly peach to gothic black.
London Fashion Week opened on February 10 with a champagne reception and closes on February 15 after nearly 60 designers have shown their autumn-winter collections.
DAY FOUR
Purple tartan antlers, silver armour, and spears regaling models' heads were highlights of the theatrical shows of up-and-coming British designers. As the venues of London Fashion Week moved away from grand hotels to warehouses, the shows took on a more edgy feel.
• Tartan was everywhere at the first solo show of Henry Holland's label, House of Holland, at London Fashion Week. There were tartan minikilts, tartan trenchcoats and laced boots.
Agyness Dean wowed the crowds in Henry Holland (left) and Giles Deacon featured padded daywear
Loud applause greeted model-of-the-moment Agyness Deyn when she closed the show wearing a tartan layered wedding dress with transparent veil and antlers atop her cropped, blonde hair.
"The whole idea behind the clothes is that they are fun to dress up in - it's a bit of a laugh really," Holland said backstage.
Androgyny blurred the catwalk as boy models sported delicate velvet slippers, skinny jeans and long mohair cardigans.
• Over at Fashion East, which each season showcases the work of three young designers, the highlight was the customized and recycled collection of the eco-label Noki House of Sustainability (NHS).
A flamboyant flamenco dress was worn as a skirt, with the voluminous sleeves padding the hips, contrasting with a punk top picturing a skull. Jeans were stitched onto grey trousers and panels of clothing were cut away.
Noki for Fashion East created weird and wonderful shapes (left) Gareth Pugh collection (right) was inspired by the Wizard of Oz
• Fashion East has launched the careers of designers such as Gareth Pugh, whose fantasy show at a warehouse in London's East End impressed fans on Wednesday evening.
Models wearing silver, armour-like dresses and white facepaint strutted down the runway with their plaited hair swinging and their lips dyed blue. Male models with long pony-tails and the same, angular armour followed suit.
"It was very abstract, based around the Wizard of Oz," said Pugh, who is renowned for his ghoulish aesthetic and has designed pieces for U.S. shock rocker Marilyn Manson.
"Dorothy as a very statuesque warrioresque barbarian - very feminine shapes but doing them in a way that is very aggressive and hard."
Giles Deacon put silk bags over his models' heads
• Meanwhile popular designer Giles Deacon sent his models down the catwalk with bags made of transparent silk gazar over their heads. Presumably, this was the point as we would pay more attention to his clothes. The only irony was that model of the moment Agyness Deyn, out of commission because of an eye infection, didn't take part in the show. The bags would have provided the perfect camouflage for her swollen eyelid.
Ms Deyn has been named the new face of Deacon's popular Gold line for high street chain New Look, due out in March.
First out on the catwalk was a selection of padded daywear. Sleeveless, quilted bodywarmers reworked in grey flannel or teal satin were worn with gently padded pencil skirts, exposed zippers snaking up their back seam. Zips were a theme, appearing again along the top seams of fishtail cocktail dresses, adding a hard edge to the sugar candy colours.
You sensed that any time things got too pretty, Deacon stopped them - hence the deliberately snagged cobweb-knit jumpers that toughened up an elegant satin evening skirt, the hooded sweatshirt layered over a silk fishtail gown or the scraggy scarves accompanying a delicate, pale pink cocktail dress.
Rock'n'roll Rodnik designers Philip Colbert and Richard Ascott partied on stage with their models dressed in hot pink and black at their evening show.
Rock'n'roll label Rodnik models party on stage
"Our new collection is inspired by the concept of a fashion 'rock brand'," the duo said. They toured the world as a band to promote their last collection.
DAY THREE
• Today was the turn of the new generation of designers supported by a Topshop funded initiative. First up was Duro Olowu who put a modern twist on the bold patterns and colours from his African heritage.
• Newcomer Christopher Kane followed with his fourth London Fashion Week collection. The British designer only graduated from Central St Martins in 2005 but is already viewed as London's wonderboy. His latest collection was floaty and feminine and reinforced his confession that he is a "romantic" at heart.
Designs by Duro Olowu (left) and Christopher Kane (right) showed impressive skill
Naomi Campbell (left) took a surprise turn on the catwalk. A design from label Ozzie Clark (right)
• Supermodel Naomi Campbell made a surprise return to the catwalk modelling for Kisa. The fashionable diva has not modelled since Fashion for Relief, a charity show that raised £176,000 for victims of UK floods last September. The 37-year-old wore an array of knits and prints in muted tones. Last week she hit out at racism in the fashion industry.
"Women of colour are not a trend. That's the bottom line," she said.
"It's a pity that people don't always appreciate black beauty. In some instances, black models are being sidelined by major modelling agencies."
A bright ensemble from Aquascutum (left) and a model wears Betty Jackson's shocking red Henry VIII pants (right)
• Meanwhile, veteran fashion designer Betty Jackson proved she could still startle the crowds with a pair of red hotpants featuring England's King Henry VIII, he of six wives' fame.
Jackson, who has been showing at London Fashion Week for 25 years, proved she was not to be outdone in flamboyance or idiosyncrasy. Her catwalk was strewn with brightly patterned rugs, in contrast to the minimalist decor of other shows, and colours were vibrant and clashing.
"We wanted unconventional colours, so... the palette was quite broad and odd colours together," Jackson said.
A ribbed mustard polo neck was worn under a satin black dress, while transparent orange and pink sleeves sprouted from the shoulders of blue, knitted cardigans. Sequins were everywhere, hand-sewn onto tights, headbands, shoes and bodices, and adorning models' cheekbones.
• And Ossie Clarke made it's highly anticipated return to the London catwalks following the revival of the popular seventies label.
The Ossie style was resurrected and given a modern twist by a group of Cenral Saint Martins graduates headed up by Avsh Alom Gur. Ossie Clark was famous for dressing the likes of Bianca and Mick Jagger at the height of their fame.
• Fashion took a walk on the wild side as an ethical conservation label roared onto the catwalk at London Fashion Week.
Models showcase dresses in forest green, black and sand from Wildlife Works
Highlights from the Wildlife Works UK show included a forest green pinafore teamed with a black chiffon blouse, an African print dress in sand and black and luxury silk twinsets in jewel colours.
The label creates its fashion on an 80,000 acre estate in Kenya, which has been set up as a wildlife sanctuary to prevent the loss of endangered species.
DAY TWO
• The celebrities were out in force today. Singers Lily Allen and Sophie Ellis Bextor sat in the front row for the PPQ show. Stripy prom dresses with diamante straps and cropped leather jackets were the star of the show created by Amy Molyneux and Percy Parker.
• Television presenter Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and model Erin O'Connor watched models hit the catwalk for designer Jasper Conran's show. Jasper Conran created his first womenswear collection 30 years ago. He said: "The challenge is how to take these shapes and turn them into flattering clothes."
Lily Allen (left) enjoys the PPQ show, which featured this bright red outfit
A creation by Eley Kishimoto (left) and an exciting sweetie pie outfit from Emma Bell (right)
• The Eley Kishimoto show featured jaunty colours and exciting prints of rabbits, rosettes and diamonds on tea dresses and blouses. The theme for the lively catwalk was 'Bounce Bonnie Bunny Bounce.'
• Paul Smith closed the day at Claridge's with masculine tailoring and knitwear in green and orange.
Jasper Conran stuck to classic styling (left) while Paul Smith teamed green with acid orange
• Off the beaten track emerging star Emma Bell delighted the crowds with funky sweety pie designs at The Super Super Show.
"The aim of The Super Super Show is to bring some of the creative spirit and energy that is happening on a street level and in the clubs, into London Fashion Week," the creative director of the Super Super magazine, Steve Slocombe said.
DAY ONE
• London Fashion Week was officially opened by the Prime Minister's wife Sarah Brown, who wore a little black dress by Britt Lintner and an Art Nouveau beaded necklace from Liberty.
Addressing a packed reception for designers, buyers and journalists, she said: "This is a showcase to a global audience, and our British fashion designers really do Britain proud." • The swing sixties returned to London with a revived Biba celebrating its roots with a deep palette, prints and a sprinkling of nocturnal romance. The label, which counted Bianca Jagger and Twiggy as fans, also featured models wearing bizarre bucket-shaped hats.
• Ben de Lisi experimented with black PVC, which he crafted into fifties-style prom dresses, layered skirts and belted mackintoshes.
A PVC dress from Ben de Lisi (left), a purple ensemble from Biba (right)
Topshop gave the highstreet a presence on the catwalk with its Unique collection
• Topshop made sure the high street had a presence in the world of high fashion featuring their Unique collection. Highlights included an aqua marine long-sleeved ensemble, which suggests the sweater dress shape is back in fashion.
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