London

Antoni and Alison's cheeky pub-themed show

Trends: what to buy and what to ditch

The penultimate day of London Fashion Week and tension was building as the two big shows, Gareth Pugh and Giles loomed. But before the serious business of elbowing audiences and slick presentations, it was time to have some good old-fashioned fun with archetypal Brit designers Antoni & Alison, who invited its audience ‘to get drunk’ at the Cittie of Yorke pub in High Holborn. The location, typically eccentric of the designers, was the olde-worlde pub you imagine existing in Dickens’ day, complete with wood-panelled booths and a bar spanning the entire length of the pub and decorated with glammed-up 1950s dolly-bird-style barmaids. Guests swigged gin and tonics and pints of ale before sitting along wooden benches to watch the show with ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’ piping from the jukebox. Feature continues

Lights up and a procession of super-glam models with up-dos, glasses of wine and cigs in hand, stalked the catwalks in a succession of flamboyant prints. The designers, constantly inspired by the cheeky side of British culture, have developed their label since they launched it in the 1990s with their slogan T-shirts and purses. Now they are just as known for their fine prints - which this season included 22 different kinds from squiggles to hearts to pink elephants. The inspiration throughout was the good old-fashioned British pastime of getting pissed, which obviously appealed to us. The piece de resistance? A slinky evening dress with a bottle of wine and cigarette print as ‘Knees up Mother Brown’ blarred from the speakers. Brilliant fun.

Gareth Pugh on form with his love of PVC

Off schedule and Carolyn Massey presented some beautiful men’s tailoring at the St Bartholemew’s church in Smithfields. The collection included narrow tailoring, with old fashioned detailing, neckerchiefs etc, and beautiful cashmere jumpers. Rumour has it she’s doing a collection for Topman. Another off-scheduler, Avsh Alom Gur created flowing jersey dresses in aubergine, with contrasting coloured tights and cutaway backs as well as soft tailoring with a few crazy details thrown in like hats used as brooches. Then on to the serious stuff and back to South Kensington for Gareth Pugh. A brilliant soundtrack provided by Boombox got the audience rocking as the first few outfits appeared. It was a shock: the first four looks were actually wearable - black belted wraps and a selection skilfully cut coats and dresses. What was going on? It wasn’t long before the designer got back to his controversial form with wild outfits of horsehair and PVC (two of Pugh’s favourite fabrics). Some, like the hooded striped coat with stripes of leather and suede, were exquisite. Others, like the dress made from what looked like Monopoly board boxes covered with PVC, were less desirable. Hair and make up was as terrifying as ever - one model fell off the stage as she couldn’t see through her glossy black face mask. We loved the La Perla tights Pugh had designed, with opaque and transparent stripes.