Alice Wyllie's London Fashion Week blog

Monday 1434hrs

Wowza, Scotland's own Christopher Kane really blew me away with a collection that contrasted bad gal leather and lace with floral embroidery.

This is one of Kane's strongest collections so far. It's a predominantly black collection that's heavy on leather, lace and PVC, and the rebellious bad girl aesthetic is softened with hand-embroidered flowers (the kind that put one in mind of an English country garden) which climb up hems, over bodices and down the sleeves of shifts and mini-dresses. The contrast is striking.

We see hints of Kane's Scottish heritage in simple black kilts or blonde sheepskin collars, and highlights include ironically twee navy cashmere sweaters, covered in kitschy floral embroidery (think geraniums interspersed with weeds) with the seams of the sleeves left open.

Continuing with the rebellious black leather but referencing Catholic iconography, leather dresses come with embellished crystal details while tailored tuxedo dresses are among the most wearable pieces in the collection.

The collection is another triumph. Naomi Campbell says she loves the shoes (lace-up heeled boots that stop at the mid-calf) and Dolly Jones of Vogue suggests that Kane has created a line of dresses which will "be recognised as iconic keystones in his creative journey," adding that "there could hardly have been a woman in the room who isn't now fantasising about being the first to be seen in one of these."

This collection has connotations of your granny's tea cosy, fetish wear, Madonna in the eighties and canal boat folk art, but Kane's inspirations are far more diverse.

Speaking after the show, he cites the Women's Institute, juvenile delinquents and Priscilla Presley ("before Elvis got his hands on

her") as his influences for this collection, adding that the use of leather and lace panels was an attempt to make the embroidered hedgerow flowers "a little more perverse."

Monday 0957hrs

So when you're a model, the world's your catwalk I suppose. Spotted this lot practising their posing in a lift. Never miss an opportunity for a spot of 'Vogue-ing' eh?

Monday 0949hrs

One of the shows I was most looking forward to this season was Holly Fulton's. The Edinburgh College of Art graduate, who lives between Edinburgh and London is hotly tipped to be the next big thing in fashion, and it's no surprise that Sarah Jessica Parker wears her designs in the upcoming Sex and the City film.

On Saturday night, with the room completely packed and even standing room at a premium, I find myself perched on a windowsill, worrying about the rubber wedges on my boots melting on the radiator below. No matter; from my distant vantage point, I got a good view of a collection that takes Fulton's passion for art deco themes and moves it in a more mature direction.

Fulton kept the silhouettes simple, focusing instead on print and embellishment. On our invitations were written the words: "I know it's only black and white, but I like it!" and in addition to striking monochrome pieces, Fulton gave us deep turquoises, yellows and oranges. We saw snake print shift dresses, disc-print T-shirt dresses and over-sized pieces of crystal jewellery.

Clever touches included snakeskin inserts on jackets and jewellery and Fulton's signature Swarovski crystal dresses. Further exploring some themes and techniques that have proven popular in the past, some might describe this collection as a little 'safe' but there's no doubt that it's a hit. Watch this face.

Monday 0927hrs

So London Fashion Week is divided over designer Mark Fast's decision to use plus-size models in his show. Last week Victoria Beckham spoke out in defence of designers' rights to use very thin models if they so wish, but Fast has made a strong statement by choosing to feature models of varying sizes to prove that his body-con knitwear can look good on women of all sizes including plus-size supermodel Crystal Renn who walked in his show in a red mini-dress.

Some are calling it a publicity stunt, others are embracing the move warmly. Vogue editor Alexander Schulman is sceptical, saying "I'm not sure that Mark's clothes do look as good on bigger girls as they do on slim, rounded girls, while Grazia's Paula Reed was enthusiastic.

But let's leave the last word to our own Lorraine Kelly, who said of Crystal Renn on this morning's GMTV: "I don't think that frock is doing her any favours by the way."

Sunday 2122hrs

Could this be one of my favourite micro trends to emerge from London Fashion Week?

Molten wax - as seen on the heel of these Nicholas Kirkwood shoe boots - is going to be quite the thing come autumn. And if you don't have the readies to shell out on these beauties, this is the ultimate DIY trend...

Sunday 2118hrs

Outside the tent at Somerset house and there's a bottleneck as street style bloggers scrabble to snap the fashionistas.

It's evidence that the market for street style blogs - wherein photographers with an eye for fashion take pictures of stylish types they spot on the street and upload them onto a blog - has been saturated and that they've lost their sense of spontaneity.

Photographers hang around getting the same pictures of the same people, and more than a few fashion fans loiter nonchalantly hoping to get snapped. The notion that these bloggers just happen across exquisitely styled people on the street is actually false. And no, I'm not bitter just because no one snapped me. Well, not that bitter.

Saturday 1652hrs

Just back from Louise Gray's presentation, where both the models and the designer herself sported blue eyebrows. Do I smell a trend for autumn/winter 2010?

Once and up and comer, Gray seems now to have up and come, with her passion for embellishment evolving into complicated techniques with textiles.

Think patchworked and layered fabrics teamed with orange furry hi-tops or skyscraper heels. Gray told me that this collection was all about her evolution.

Vogue already love her, and this is a mature collection from a young designer who's already excelled.

Saturday 1642hrs

Whiled away half an hour this afternoon reading the messages on the tribute board to Alexander McQueen. I stuck mine up next to Sarah Brown's. The Prime Minister's wife wrote: "Lee Alexander McQueen - an incredible talent, a good heart and a great loss. British Fashion is much the poorer for your passing."

Saturday 1427hrs

No more Champagne for me after I nearly knocked out photographer Mario Testino (below) with my taxi door last night. Now that's a fashion faux pas.

No matter, it's bright and early and Champagne hangovers are being hidden behind dark sunglasses. I started my day with a rose cupcake from the Primrose Bakery and now I'm blogging from the Blog Bar at Somerset House.

Incidentally, it turns out that streaming is the new blogging; McQueen kicked off the trend and this season designers including Burberry and Jaeger will be streaming their shows live online.

It's the ultimate in high-fashion democracy: anyone can get a virtual front row seat, and even better, you can ditch the heels ad watch your favourite show in your pyjamas. Visit www.londonfashionweek.co.uk for details.

Friday 2103hrs

Backstage with Eunice Olumide at the c's Lingerie Collective and it's corsets as far as the eye can see.

I ask one blonde model in a red fringed number if she can breathe. "In a word, no" she rasps.

Eunice is having a purple headdress fitted, coughing as she gets a faceful of hairspray from the model next to her. In a word, it's chaos. I'm heading front of house...

Friday 2001hrs

Just fought my way out of the St Martin's Lane Hotel - where I'm staying for the duration of Fashion Week - through a scrum of paparazzi. All this for little ol' me? Well, no actually.

Lancome are hosting their Fashion Week party at the St Martin's Lane tonight and Kate Winslet is on her way. In the meantime I squeeze my way past milliner extraordinaire Stephen Jones and a gaggle of top models as the flashbulbs threaten me with temporary blindness.

Never mind that - I may have a case of temporary insanity by the time the chaos of Fashion Week's over...

Friday 1755hrs

It's the first full day of London Fashion Week and I've kicked things off with a Fashion Week pitstop platter at the Sanctum Soho. Forget cocktails and cupcakes - this is low-calories food for fashionistas on the go.

Now that I've re-fuelled I'm jumping in a taxi to the Button Club's lingerie collective, which will showcase the work of six different lingerie designers every hour on the hour.

I'll be keeping a lookout for Edinburgh's own Bebaroque, they of fabulous printed and embellished hoisery, and I'll be going backstage with Edinburgh model Eunice Olumide who's going to be spending the next six hours in her pants. Rather her than me.

Thursday 2100hrs

Fashion for Relief, Naomi Campbell's charity fundraiser for the victims of the Haiti Earthquake might have started late, but very much fashionably so.

A cool Sarah Brown kicked things off before Campbell took to the catwalk with Kate Moss in a stunning tribute to the late Alexander McQueen.

Celeb after celeb followed and highlights included Dame Shirley Bassey in sequins (of course) and comedians James Corden and David Walliams, who shared a snog at the end of the catwalk.

All the clothes worn on the catwalk are now available to buy on net-a-porter.com and the show was followed by the kind of charity auction where if you have to think before you bid, you can't afford it.

When I slipped out, bids for an original Damien Hirst had reached 130,000 and counting. London Fashion Week has officially begun...

Read my full coverage of the event in Monday's Scotsman.

Thursday 1800hrs

London Fashion Week is kicking off and heavy rain is putting a bit of a dampener on everyone's spirits.

Never mind; Hadley Freeman, a contributing editor at Vogue has assured us that welly boots are de rigeur, and I expect to spot more than a few pairs of Jimmy Choo's limited edition mock-croc Hunter wellies over the course of the week.

For the moment however, it's five-inch Jimmy Choos that are making the most noise on the damp cobblestones of Somerset House – the hub of London Fashion Week – where Naomi Campbell is hosting Fashion For Relief, a star-studded fashion show that will be raising funds for the survivors of the Haiti Earthquake.

A number of celebrities will be taking to the catwalk in pieces on loan from top designers, and with Campell's extensive list of celebrity pals ranging from Cheryl Cole to Sarah Brown, everyone's wondering exactly who'll be strutting their stuff tonight. The action kicks off at 7:30pm.

• Alice Wyllie will blog for scotsman.com throughout London Fashion Week. Bookmark this page for latest updates