Crazy in love with style

Published on Saturday 23 September 2006 01:04

LONDON Fashion Week came to its conclusion yesterday in one final ordeal of runway shows, starting with a sedate little presentation at breakfast-time in the name of the late Jean Muir, and ending with an orgy of high-octane glamour, courtesy of that attention-grabbing red-carpet-friendly designer Julien Macdonald.

Ranging from a diet of ideas-lite understatement (will the Jean Muir studio ever find a convincing alternative to navy-blue wool crepe?), via a brush with the avant-garde vision of PPQ and Hamish Morrow, to Macdonald's blast of pure, unadulterated, crystal-encrusted excess, the final day's schedule articulated London's infinite variety of fashion expression. Frankly, you see all kinds here.

Yet, in spite of this eclecticism, there are three distinct themes that have dominated this week's London shows: having a big heart, having a wild imagination... and having a size-zero body.

Some designers are currently focusing on making a difference in the world: for example, using ethically produced and environmentally friendly materials, or channelling their profits into altruistic projects designed to tackle Third World disease and famine.

Others have been teasing us with notions that the future of fashion includes such aberrations as a vast bubble-coat and matching face-mask (thank you, Gareth Pugh). But this week has also witnessed some truly stand-out shows by Giles Deacon, Christopher Kane and Marios Schwab: proof that you can wait and wait and wait for the new Alexander McQueen to turn up, and then three of them come along at the same time.

All the while, a relentless and highly vocal crusade against overly skinny models has had no noticeable impact on the girls whom designers have been choosing for their shows here in London this week. Thin is in this season - end of story.

On Wednesday, Nuts magazine placed a news vendor alongside the Evening Standard's own trusty newspaper seller, right outside the official London Fashion Week venue. While the Standard's man shouted "Late Extra!", his counterpart from Nuts offered "Free pies for models."

It was hard not to snigger.

Anorexia is, of course, no laughing matter. I'd certainly judge any model agent who encourages the girls he or she represents to starve themselves as irresponsible, unprofessional, and some con- siderable way beneath contempt. But, while I'm not completely comfortable with the current runway vogue for girls who are really young and fairly shapeless (which is certainly not the same thing as anorexic), it's surely no less ludicrous to stigmatise thin people than those who happen to be fat, red-haired, black, Jewish or, for that matter, Scottish.

As it happens, this was one fashion week when it felt quite good to be Scottish, with an extraordinary flowering of new Scottish design talent registering as a phenomenon, and the Glasgow: Scotland with Style Design Collective getting itself noticed. "Are they putting something in the water, up there?" I was asked by one erstwhile cynical commentator reeling from the fashion punches packed by Christopher Kane, Deryck Walker, Jonathan Saunders and Aimee McWilliams - each of whom produced strong and memorable shows.

Although the skinny models debate droned on and on and on and on throughout the week, it was still easy to feel good about working in the fashion world.

Not since the earliest days of the fight to curb AIDS has this industry shown itself quite so ready to adopt and address difficult issues and use glamour as a force for good. London Fashion Week's static exhibition space had one whole area devoted to designers (names such as Noir and Katharine Hamnett, the latter being back on the London circuit with her ethically made high-fashion collection, Katharine E Hamnett) who are making a noise about their commitment to the principles of fair trade and environmentally safe production methods.

But even their collective rumblings were nothing compared to the mighty roar generated by Giorgio Armani on Thursday evening, when he presented not only his latest Emporio Armani collection but a special line for RED, the ambitious, celebrity-backed initiative devised to help alleviate the AIDS pandemic in Africa.

This perma-tanned Italian is the world's richest and single most successful fashion designer, and his One Night Only extravaganza was one of London's biggest-ever fashion happenings.

The man has class as well as influence. And although other London shows weren't entirely celebrity-free zones, Armani attracted a truly mesmerising line-up of movie and music scene superstars - see the party report opposite for the line-up - each one dressed (you guessed?) in Armani.

Don't you just love those party invitations which include a free outfit?

Were you there, darling? The week in parties

LONDON'S Fashion Week parties started on Monday with Rachel Zoe, the Hollywood stylist du jour, flying in to party with designer Julien Macdonald. Zoe is the woman who makes Tinseltown's finest - Mischa Barton, Keira Knightley et al - look good, but whether she could do the same for Macdonald's irrepressibly vulgar designs was up for debate.

It was a promising start - Zoe swept in regally, wearing a Grecian-style, nude-silk jersey dress from the new collection that set off her Californian tan perfectly. She is said to be "mid-thirties", but that West Coast sun has left her looking refreshingly, er, unworked.

Slender to the point of transparency, she has robust views on the size-zero model controversy. "We are tyrannised by numbers," she proclaimed. "We shouldn't be talking about whether people are a size 4, 6 or whatever. It doesn't matter."

This neatly ignored the fact that most of us can only dream of being either of those sizes.

If Zoe was chic, the down-and-dirty Monday night party was at edgy label PPQ, opening their London shop with DJ Peaches Geldof at the decks. So many people squeezed in to watch that the party was happening more in the street than the store, which had become one sweaty crush.

Tuesday night's partygoers were spoilt for choice. Gina Shoes' 50th birthday bash was hugely oversubscribed: those lucky enough to make it into the ironically 1970s-styled bar included Gail Porter, Jodie Kidd, Jordan and a very mini-skirted Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, who was telling anyone who would listen about her new nose. All were wearing Gina's spangly stilettos, but Tara P-T was not such a great ad for the brand: she took a tumble as she left the hotel. Who nose if it was the heels that did it?

Over at the Biba relaunch party, Jemima Khan turned up without Hugh Grant, the two having apparently had a tiff.

Model Erin O'Connor looked sensational - but not in Biba - and Lady Victoria Hervey got turned away for not being on the guest list.

The only topics of conversation were whether Biba could succeed as a high-end label with prices in multiple hundreds, despite designer Bella Freud's efforts to revive its original spirit, and why the organisers of Fashion Week parties believe their guests never want to eat.

On Wednesday, the coolest partygoers went to Yohji Yamamoto's new shop, while the world and his dog turned up at the after-show party for new Scottish sensation Christopher Kane.

Having sent out selected invitations beforehand, the new king of sexy cling worried that not enough would turn up, and popped an invite into every goodie bag at his show. Result: a party so jam-packed that even a sardine would have grumbled.

Party of the week was Thursday's Armani bash. Or was it? Strict instructions were to arrive at the vast Earl's Court exhibition hall before 8.30pm or be locked out, and rumours that no-one would be allowed to leave until 11pm had some rebellious fashionistas saying they couldn't be bothered. Well, they missed a treat.

Only someone with Armani's clout could turn this unpromising venue into a sophisticated nightspot, and fly in such acts as Beyonc, Razorlight, Bryan Ferry, 50 Cent and Andrea Bocelli to entertain guests.

Armani-clad celebrity guests like Ashley Judd, Leonardo di Caprio, Bono, Elle Macpherson and Kim Cattrall made impassioned pleas for support for the Red charity initiative to help combat AIDS in Africa. So not only fun, but feelgood too.

Beyonc looked fab in thigh-high couture, while the dodgy-attire award went to Ferry in an all-sequin and satin tuxedo. Some 1,500 guests, including actors Minnie Driver, Juliette Lewis, Saffron Burrows, Rufus Sewell and Rhys Ifans, designer Phoebe Philo, musician Natalie Imbruglia and a clutch of handsome footballers such as Frank Lampard, Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg (who elected for ripped jeans and punk chains) had a high-profile evening that London Fashion Week alone could not have attempted.

Armani said: "There's a creative spirit and excitement here now which I've not seen since Carnaby Street in the 1960s."

The event cost 3,000 per guest - which adds up to 4.5 million for a night out - proving London is the fashion party capital of the world.