“I don’t want to be too bossy, but I just know that somebody’s got to organise it a bit!” Dame Vivienne Westwood is busily arranging us around the design table in her bright South London studio, having invited us here to see the winning design in Greenpeace’s ‘Flag for the Future’ competition, for which entrants were asked to design an official flag promoting the ‘Save the Arctic’ campaign that will be planted on the North Pole sea bed. The aim is to raise awareness of the campaign’s objectives – to create a global sanctuary in the international waters around the North Pole and to ban offshore oil drilling and unsustainable fishing in the Arctic. The competition’s head judge? Dame Viv.

You’d be right in thinking this doesn’t necessarily sound like a high fashion day out, but any excuse to get inside Westwood HQ and speak to the lady herself is not to be missed. In person, she’s a bit brilliant – funny, smart and just the right amount of indiscreet (at one point she lets slip about a massive, and top secret, upcoming project – cue her assistant having what looks like an aneurysm as Dame Vivienne innocently adds, “Oh, we’re not supposed to talk about it…”) She is also thoroughly engaging and listening to her discuss climate change in her gentle Derbyshire accent makes me determined to curb my disposable fashion habits. And switch off more lights.

Along with being on the button when it comes to big issues, DV (Dame Viv) is also incredibly warm and endearing, like your granny or favourite old aunt, only one suspects that, unlike your elderly relatives, she’s wearing wacky eyeliner and two pairs of trousers on purpose. She’s also sporting the T-shirt she has designed exclusively for the Greenpeace campaign, of which she’s rather proud.

“I think this says everything – it’s got a heart-shaped world and on the North Pole there’s this flag of peace. I think you get the idea because, if we don’t save the Arctic, we will not stop climate change and it has to be done now, else we’ve got no chance.”

We’re getting very used to hearing DV discuss environmental issues whenever possible – she recently blasted the Duchess of Cambridge for not recycling her outfits enough – and she admits she now uses her brand as much to promote her agenda as to sell clothes. “I use it as a vehicle because I’m well known and I have a credibility in this fashion world after all this time,” she tells me. “It’s got to a point where a collection is not at all about ‘Save the Arctic,’ but we superimposed this idea on what was, in fact, this season a medieval inspiration.”

Of course DV’s collections have always been more than just something to put on your back. As a pioneer of the punk movement, which has inspired this year’s Met Ball and the accompanying exhibit featuring Westwood’s designs, the message behind her clothes has always been key, but she doesn’t necessarily find that her peers share her passion.

“I talk to fashion designers and say I want some money to save the rainforest and they say, ‘Oh, I agree with you completely Vivienne. Yes, climate change, it’s definitely happening,’ but they don’t feel that they can do anything about it, they don’t even think ‘Well let’s stop it!’” Sadly, she doesn’t name and shame the eco-unfriendly fashionistas of whom she speaks, but does she think the industry can help the cause on a wider scale?

“I’ve agreed to be on the panel of [a discussion] promoted by Vogue next month and that’s what they want to know. I’m trying to cut down on the quantity. I think we have too much product because that’s the way of the fashion industry – your main collection loses money, you subsidise it, and everything filters into your second lines and handbags and all this stuff.”

Surely, though, the point of a fashion house is to keep churning out new ‘stuff’ to sell? DV is not so sure anymore. “I have too much product and I’m trying to rein it in and sell more of my main collection. I wish you didn’t have to design so often, it would be good if you could keep on selling the same things for a few years and not have to do new things all the time. For me [the idea] is to try to cut down on the quantity and to make everything quality.

To buy less, but to buy quality is DV’s long-held maxim (as well as the way she neatly sidesteps the tricky question of how a person who runs a luxury goods company can ask people, including her customers, to consume less). Disposable fashion – “I don’t call that fashion, all that stamped out stuff” – is one of her pet peeves and she gets rather heated over the way some young women dress today (WARNING: fans of leggings, look away now).

“It’s quite shocking actually how some people look! [They’ve got] these tights on, black tights with bare feet. They would look less vulgar and less pornographic if they were nude! Nudity is quite beautiful but these tights are so rude and vulgar and awful. I think it’s a horrible look, those little cheap dresses and these black tights underneath and bare feet and there she is pushing a pram down the street. They don’t look nice!”

It’s at this point I consider how much fun a book written by DV could be, a feeling that is compounded when we’re introduced to her co-judge, a young Girl Guide called Aishah, whose age Dame Viv asks about (she’s 15). “And do you think you’ll grow taller?”, replies DV. “I mean, you’re never going to be that big, are you?!” So I am delighted when Vivienne tells me she will indeed be publishing a book based on her ‘Get a Life’ blog and composed of diary entries, essays and even a few recipe ideas. Yes, forget fasting for two days a week, DV even has your diet sorted. “I eat only vegetables and fruit and to me it’s the most aspirational diet because it’s so easy. It’s quite simple the cooking I do. I keep a grater [in the studio] and just have something raw in the evening, a big salad.”

So it seems that, having dealt with Kate Middleton, DV could now stake a claim on sister P-Middy’s turf as a celebrity lifestyle author. The difference? Dame Viv has a strong point of view and an incredible ability to make you believe in what she stands for. If you’re not currently recycling old copies of Grazia and re-thinking that £10 top you’ll wear once and throw out, I highly recommend spending a little time in DV’s world.

I originally wrote this piece for Grazia Daily – read it on the site here

Photo credits – all images © 2013 Vicki Couchman/Greenpeace. All rights reserved.

The films may be set in a dystopian future where young adults are forced to fight to the death in the name of entertainment, but that doesn’t mean they can’t look pin sharp whilst doing it. If these new promotional shots from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire are anything to go by, Katniss Everdeen and chums have upped the fashion ante for the second film in the series.

Shown in a series of ‘portraits’ being drip fed by the studio ahead of the film’s autumn release, Elizabeth Banks is wearing a look from the Alexander McQueen autumn/winter ’12 collection (look 29, to be precise – an explosion of red ruffles) as she sits in a tense pose, in keeping with her character Effie Trinket’s uptight nature. Meanwhile, the film’s star, Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, wears what looks very much like a custom-made Alexander McQueen gown based on Sarah Burton’s autumn/winter ’12 show (though brand representatives have confirmed that it isn’t).

And the style inspiration doesn’t stop at McQueen; in a previously released still from the film, which shows Katniss on a stage with will-they-won’t-they, do-they-don’t-they companion and fellow Hunger Games survivor, Peeta Mellark (aka Josh Hutcherson), Lawrence looks suitably strong and a little futuristic in a leather-trimmed moiré silk dress that’s a dead ringer for Christopher Kane’s autumn/winter ’12 collection (again it isn’t, but it could be).

This high fashion steer for the film can be put down to new costume designer Trish Summerville, who replaced the first film’s Judianna Makovsky, presumably when writer/director Gary Ross moved on to other projects. Clearly, Summerville – who previously created Rooney Mara’s costumes for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – favours strong looks for strong female characters. If these shots are anything to go by, the millions of young girls who look up to Katniss will soon be doing so as much for her wardrobe as her smarts and her ass-kicking prowess.

All images from The Hunger Games films © 2013 Lionsgate. All rights reserved. Alexander McQueen catwalk image © 2012 Alexander McQueen. All rights reserved. Christopher Kane catwalk image © 2012 Christopher Kane. All rights reserved.

And so it’s over for another season. This week, the great and the good (and, OK, some of the not so good…) of fashion descended on London to see what the city’s ready-to-wear designers will be putting on the backs of fashion-forward ladies next autumn/winter. Of course, model of the moment, Cara Delevigne, made several appearances and the FROWs were packed with fashion A-listers like Alexa Chung, Kate Bosworth and Olivia Palermo sitting side by side with musical lovelies such as Rita Ora, Mollie King and Nicola Roberts. It wouldn’t be fashion week without Anna Wintour, though, and she flew in to take her place on the front row of the big shows – at Christopher Kane she sat next to Donatella Versace and, dressed in Prada, she took her seat on the Mulberry FROW next to Nicole Farhi.

Over the course of the five day fashion-fest, I took in a bunch of shows, a handful of which I covered for The Telegraph’s live blog, and what follows it a selection of bits and bobs for your enjoyment…

Christopher Raeburn

Christopher Raeburn was apparently inspired by a set of WWII naval defences – the Maunsell Sea Forts – off the English coast for his autumn/winter collection, which perhaps explains why the very cute show invitation was a message in a tiny bottle. So, of course, there was blue in the colour palette, albeit cerulean rather than Her Majesty’s navy hue, but there was also crimson, grey, a few monochrome looks and a gorgeous tarnished gold on textured jackets and trousers. Silhouettes were boxy on bomber jackets and a couple of shift dresses and fairly neat elsewhere.

Raeburn had the genius stroke of using Teflon to make the clothes, which of course included his trademark parka alongside plenty of other outerwear options, rain-resistant. Sporty, quirky and a little bit gorgeous, Raeburn’s ship is sailing strong.

Julien Macdonald‘s show was all glamour, of course, held in the decadent beauty of Goldsmith’s Hall (this chandelier was pretty incredible), where a pre-show drinks reception got people in the mood for his party-girl collection.

House of Holland had a good atmosphere to it, as always, and Henry’s chums were all there on his FROW to see the collection march out – Nick Grimshaw, Pixie Geldof, Nicola Roberts, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Dan Gillespie-Sells were all in attendance to see his ‘Rave Nana’ collection do its thing. A girl going to a rave who raids her Nana’s closet? A Nana going to a rave who doesn’t give a sh*t? Who knows, but it was FUN, that’s for sure.

Cara Delevingne – the Model of the Year walked in Burberry Prorsum and Peter Pilotto, among others…

Christopher Kane – ah, the big one – will of course be getting a full post of his very own soon, stay tuned… But in the meantime, here’s the FROW.

Ashley Isham

It was going to take a lot from Ashley Isham to impress a crowd that had stood waiting outside the Freemasons Hall almost forty minutes beyond his show’s scheduled start time. And ‘a lot’ is most certainly what we got – futuristic visors (a little derivative of those McQueen ones from last season), leather, mixed materials, huge lapels, florals, heavy embellishment… The list goes on and on, like the show seemed to. There were some nice touches, granted, but overall there was of a very lot of a little too much.

Holly Fulton

It looks as though the biggest trend for next season might be tardiness. Although Holly Fulton didn’t quite run to the lateness record RiRi set last night, she came close and, in the end, her own PR team had to pad out her front row. Which is a shame because Fulton’s collection, inspired by ’70s art school rockers’ and ‘seductive temptress’ Beatrice Dalle, was a lot of fun once it appeared.

As usual, geometric prints were her weapon of choice, but they were a little more playful this season, particularly in a bullet-like lipstick motif. Big cats and angry bears were printed across T-shirts paired with flowing, floor-length organza skirts, but Fulton’s black leather dress and biker jackets said ‘temptress’ loudest of all.

Beauty took its lead from Dalle, with make-up artist Andrew Gallimore citing ‘big, tomatoey orange’ lips and brushed up brows as key parts of his desired ‘disheveled’ look – ‘not effortless, but no effort!’ being key to the Fulton girl’s attitude.

Mulberry‘s front row included (deep breath) Douglas Booth, Sam Claflin, Holliday Grainger, Alice Kirby, Juno Temple, Lana del Rey and Alexa Chung…

Fashion East

There was, as usual, an abundance of creativity at Fashion East, thanks to returning designers Claire Barrow and Ryan Lo, both of whom presented under the initiative last season, and newbie Ashley Williams who, with only a graduate collection under her belt, already boasts a fanbase including Rihanna and Rita Ora.

Entitled ‘Oh, How it is to be Mundane,’ Barrow used an earthy colour palette in her collection, which included chunky knits and floor length skirts. Volume was a key theme and the mundane certainly had it’s moment when one model came down the catwalk with a lampshade on her head.

Lo’s collection screamed ‘GIRLY’ from the moment the first model strutted out to the sound of Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding out for a Hero’ and that girlishness never let up. One his apparent muses, fictional 90s fantasist Ally McBeal, was present in the skirt suits and there was plenty of the designer’s favourite tulle on display as Blondie’s ‘Atomic’ kicked in for the finale.

Despite Barrow’s and Lo’s best efforts, however, it was newcomer Williams who stole the show. Inspired by Americana and the Rock ‘n’ Roll sound of the late 50s and early 60s, her opening look was a silk shift dress printed with the face of Elvis from neck to knee, followed by teddy bear faux-fur jackets, skirts and accessories, a lipstick motif and a print of the word ‘Subscribe’ modelled on one dress by a very junior Williams fan of about 5 years old. It was all about The King, though,  with a silk top featuring a giant love-heart inscribed with ‘My Heart Belongs to Elvis Presley’ and a certified nod from showgoer Mollie King of The Saturdays, who told me after the show that Williams was her favourite of the lot.

My new friend, Mollie King of The Saturdays – I snapped this shot at Fashion East.

Tata Naka

Identical twin sisters Tamara and Natasha Surgudladze – the designers jointly behind label Tata Naka – were inspired by the notion of finding first love in a 1980s American high school for the AW13 collection they showed this afternoon. Which made the significant 1950s Grease influences seem slightly odd. Models with hair blown up like Stockard Channing’s Rizzo wore letterman jackets on their shoulders like the Pink Ladies themselves, while others wore A-line dresses that could have been straight from Sandy’s wardrobe. Another section of the presentation featured bright patchwork leather jackets and trousers almost crazy enough to be 80s-inspired, but they sat alongside Mondrian-like dresses which nodded more to the 60s. Pretty in places, but overall I didn’t fall in love in the halls of this high school.

Aminaka Wilmont 

There was disco music playing as the crowd took their seats inside the BFC tent this afternoon for the Aminaka Wilmont show, which gave me hope that we might be in for quite a cheerful affair. Then I read the show notes, which promised ‘an uncompromisingly monochrome collection’ and I got a little worried. I needn’t have, though, as what designers Maki Aminaka Lofvander and Marcus Wilmont delivered may have been relentlessly colourless, but it’s darkness was edgy and, because of that, sexy, too.

Their inspiration was apparently the theory of the multiverse and the sculptures of artist Kevin Francis Gray, although I didn’t spot either of these references in the clothes because, frankly, I don’t really know what they mean. What I did see was a strong, powerful girl with ass-kicking on her mind. She might have had a touch of Lisbeth Salander to her, with her heavily kohled eyes and penchant for leather, but she was far less androgynous, more like a nightclub hostess in a Bond film who turns out to be a deadly assassin – and between her short silk dresses, cropped leather jackets and high-heeled, deconstructed biker boots, she had the wardrobe for the job.

I’m rather scared of this Aminaka Wilmont girl and a little bit in love with her.

All images* © 2013 Nick Barron. All rights reserved. 

*EXCEPT Julien Macdonald, Holly Fulton runway, Christopher Kane front row, Aminaka Wilmont, Cara Delevingne, Fashion East images - © 2013 to their respective photographers. All rights reserved.

Poor old David Beckham – just when he thought he had cornered the market in ex-international sports stars flogging underpants to the masses, along comes a young pretender with the potential to knock him right off the top spot.

For those of you not yet familiar with the gentleman pictured here – and you’re welcome, by the way– his name is Thom Evans, ex-Scotland International rugby star and boyfriend of the very lucky Kelly Brook. Having suffered a neck-injury in 2010 that put a premature end to his rugby career, Evans has since turned to the less risky pastimes of sprinting and professional modelling (‘Hurrah’, I hear you cry). He may have started as the face of Scott’s porridge oats, but he’s come a long way in a short time– these shots for the spring/summer line of underwear brand D.Hedral mark Evans’ first international advertising campaign.

Yes, David Beckham may have had Guy Ritchie on hand to direct the new, coming-any-day-now commercial for his H&M underwear line, but Thom’s trip to Greece with fashion photographer Daniel Jaems has produced an incredibly, ahem, striking campaign for the brand.

The undies in question (yes, there are clothes in the pictures, try to have a look at them) are D.Hedral’s ‘Gigolo Joe’ and ‘Leon’ styles. Named after the word ‘dihedral’,which means the angle between two planes – or buttocks, in this case – every pair of the brand’s briefs and trunks has ‘Anglefit’ technology, which essentially means that, besides choosing according to waist size, customers pick from three shapes which best match the roundness of their behind– Slim, Average and Full.

So, gents, if your January fitness regime has already hit the skids and you’ve not yet gone from a‘Full’ to a ‘Slim’, help is at hand thanks to Thom and his new mathematically gifted friends. Of course there is a campaign video coming soon, so direct comparisons with Mr. Ritchie’s efforts for H&M can be drawn, but D.Hedralalso has ‘Anglefit’ swimwear to follow in March…

Beat that, Beckham.

All images “Thom Evans for D.HEDRAL SS13.” Ph Daniel Jaems © 2013 D.Hedral/Daniel Jaems. All rights reserved

I originally wrote this piece for the Telegraph – you can read it on the site here

Today was the last day of London Collections: Men and what a brilliant few days it has been. The final round for me went a little something like this…

J.W. Anderson

Yes, there were men in dresses and men in ruffle-hemmed shorts that looked like skirts – there’s no denying that this was an ultra-feminine take on menswear – but put aside whether or not you would actually wear 100% of these items and these was a lot to love about J.W. Anderson’s collection.

There were exquisitely tailored coats (the blue overcoat is another Must Have for next winter), knits in navy, grey and biscuit with a pinch at the sternum, which will surely become the new cowl neck, and grey pin-stripe trousers with oversized external pockets. Would you wear it all to work? No, but you can’t deny it is a bit Fabulous.

E. Tautz

Designer Patrick Grant looked back to his Scottish roots, specifically his Hebridean upbringing, as inspiration for his latest collection at E. Tautz. There were no kilts or Braveheart-style blue faces on display, but there were plenty of tartan-led checks on big, boxy overcoats and ‘plus eight’ breeches – wool trousers cut and gathered at the calf (inspired, apparently, by the bored Hebridean teen who tucks his trackies into his socks). Smart tailoring featured, of course – double breasted was the headline – and orange was a major theme again, colour-wise, further confirming its status at THE colour for next autumn/winter.

Christopher Kane

There’s always so much to get excited about with any Christopher Kane collection that it’s a little hard to know where to start, so it might seem strange to kick off with a black wool pea coat. It was a really good pea coat, though.

Many men who eschew the trendy end of the fashion spectrum are constantly on the hunt for stylish but robust basics they can live their lives in, happy that they got dressed in ten minutes and still look sharp. Clever Mr. Kane knows this very well and has delivered a collection with plenty of simple-yet-slick knits, shirts and of course, THAT coat. Mind you, there was still plenty of that edginess, pulled through from his most recent womenswear collections, that has made Kane the coolest kid on the fashion corner – a pair of very short shorts with a jaguar-printed furry front and black leather back might be reserved for the sartorially brave gentleman, while Frankenstein and the Creature from the Black Lagoon were all over T-shirts, hoodies and knits. Dark yet classic, smart but a little it scary, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Angelo Galasso

Angelo Galasso’s Italian aesthetic was on full display at his Knightsbridge store this evening, which was the venue for a drinks reception and a chance to take a look at the merchandise. Belts, shoes, bags and jackets in every kind of skin you can imagine sat amongst both casual and formalwear worthy of any Milanese gent. The canapes were pretty good, too.

Nutters of Savile Row x Peter Werth

There was a Studio 54 feel at Cafe de Paris this evening for the Nutters of Savile Row x Peter Werth show – a mirrorball and plenty of disco beats set the mood as showgoers waited. And waited. Half an hour later, a chap on roller skates, decked out in some very 70s threads, glided down the catwalk and did a little jig. It only got weirder from there. After a handful of models sporting wide-legged trousers and blazers with oversized lapels had done their thing, out came the ‘Northern Soul dancers’. One by one, each member of this strange troupe cut a rug in what is best described as break dancing-meets-dad at the disco, before all piling in together for a dancing finale. Boogie Nights? I’m washing my hair, thanks.

Day two went a little something like this…

Nicole Farhi

For her debut menswear collection as Creative Director, Joanna Sykes at Nicole Farhi kept it simple and classic, but still managed to sneak in several  highly desirable pieces. Staples such as a black leather biker jacket and a navy suit sat alongside waffle knits and shearling-lined suede coats and one must-have monochrome jumper.  Forget what I said yesterday, however, about a dog being the ultimate A/W ’13 accessory – one fashionista brought his pooch along, but it was all a bit too much for Rover, who showed his ‘appreciation’ in the middle of the studio floor. I’m sure it was a sign of his excitement.

Margaret Howell

There was a distinct lack of colour at Margaret Howell this morning – save for one blue shirt and one red, the colour palette was muted, to say the least. What there was an abundance of, however, was berets. And wool trousers, knitwear, peacoats – all the usual suspects. None of this is anything to get excited about, but these are the things many of us live our lives in (not the berets, the rest – although give it time…), so who can blame her?

Aitor Throup

Aitor Throup’s thing is design in all it’s forms and an aesthetic which, apparently, cannot be contained within the cyclical fashion system of the seasons. Still, there were clothes here amid the model skulls suspended from steel frames and around, among other things, a giant horse sculpture – a  smartly tailored suit here, a utility jacket there. Darkness was the order of the day, though, as Throup displayed with his giant skull backpack.

Jonathan Saunders

Colour and print. This is what it’s all about for Mr. Saunders, if you didn’t already know. Whether it’s fading out from one shade to another within the same garment,  sticking a bold stripe right across the middle or mashing a whole load of hues together in a zebra-like multicoloured pattern, they will definitely see you coming in Jonathan Saunders. Outside of the kaleidoscope, though, was a simple black sweatshirt whose shearling front made it a very interesting prospect indeed.

Richard James

Inspired by the colours of London’s parks, Richard James presented a collection that moved from a walk in one of said spaces to a black tie reception high above them. Personally, I fell for the matching chunky knit/scarf/wooly hat combos – I’ll take one in maroon, please.

Martine Rose

Anybody fancy buying an outfit made out of cloth beer mats? No, me neither.

Mr. Porter

As the premiere online destination for the stylish gent, it made sense for Mr. Porter to team up with four top up-and-coming designers on an exclusive range of capsule collections, which launched on the site today. Matthew Miller used silver metallic patches on black, Sibling went for some pink leopard print and Richard Nicoll used blue, grey and yellow colour-blocking. Top of the class though must be Katie Eary, whose gold and black baroque print sweatshirt had sold out before the presentation had started.

The Gentlemen’s Houses of Savile Row

Inside the regal splendour of Spencer House in St. James’s, the Gentlemen’s Houses of Savile Row hosted a presentation featuring tailoring by the likes of Dege & Skinner, Anderson & Sheppard and Hardy Amies. Geared of course towards ‘The English Gentleman’, there was everything for the discerning dandy, from shooting outfits to white tie glamour. The styling and set-up were superb, with models sitting at tables set for dinner or lingering on the candlelit staircase. Needless to say, tweed and checks were a mainstay, but these are the houses that gave us heritage in the first place and wow, do they do it well.

Oliver Spencer

Plenty to love at Oliver Spencer – from the boxy blazers and prison-print stripey trousers, to former T4 presenter Rick Edwards, who walked in the show wearing a very natty charcoal coat with a thick, burgundy stripe. There were clothes here that you know would feel brilliant to wear, like a wool coat in light grey, adorned with enormously oversized pockets. And that’s the whole point of all of this really, isn’t it?

London Collections: Men kicked off today with a host of autumn/winter 2013 menswear shows and presentations taking place in and around the central hub of Covent Garden. I was lucky enough to attend a whole bunch of them, including…

BALLY EVEREST ANNIVERSARY EVENT

Bally laid out an historic expedition tent in Bedford Square this morning and filled it with mountaineering gear in an old-school nod to the Everest-conquering pioneers of yore. There were fur boots and gloves to keep you warm on the trek and kit bags to stash your ropes and… stuff. For the really hardcore and those feeling the cold, they were serving warm whiskey alongside breakfast.

ORLEBAR BROWN

It was Miami madness at Orlebar Brown this morning, where a huge backdrop showed a smiley, all-American couple in a Cadillac cruising Miami Beach. The happy mood translated through to the clothes, as the collection featured bright swimwear (of course) and colourful separates – a speedboat print on short-sleeved shirts and a poolside print on a pair of shorts. Perfect for some winter sun, Stateside.

JOHN SMEDLEY

We may only just have boxed up the decorations and, for the faux fir fans among us, the tree for another year, but gentlemen, I have already located your Christmas Jumper 2013. Look no further than knitwear stalwart, John Smedley, who this morning served up a gorgeous winter wardrobe featuring festive knits in red, green and blue. For those wanting in on the ‘meggings’ trend (why-oh-why?!), Smedley has catered for you too, but best of all was an entire rail dedicated to light grey cashmere sweaters, cardigans and scarves (and a pair of said meggings we’ll overlook) – *love*. As knitwear staples go, this is surely not to be beaten.

TOPMAN DESIGN

You can’t beat Topman Design for affordable-yet-interesting clobber. Today’s show was all about fur-lined parkas, oversized backpacks with compass attachments and climbing boots, in a continuation of the mountaineering theme seen earlier at Bally. Colour-wise, things stayed fairly solid, moving from white to orange, through gorgeous burgundy to good old reliable black.

CP COMPANY

It was all a bit dramatic at CP Company, where half a dozen coats hung from hooks in a darkened space whilst actor Joseph Mawle delivered several monologues on themes like manhood and beauty. The coats themselves were fairly nondescript, save for the built-in goggles in the hoods, handy when caught in a snowstorm or, one suspects, when peeling onions with one’s coat on.

MAN

MAN, the Topman and Fashion East co-venture, gave us a hip hop-inspired collection from Astrid Andersen (lots of ‘leisurewear’ and the odd Fresh Prince haircut) and a pretty scary show from Craig Green which used a lot of layering on plain black and white ensembles, but in which many of the models sported structures made of broken pieces of plywood nailed together and worn over the head and body. Best of all were Agi & Sam, whose country gent-inspired collection was not only gorgeous, but made a catwalk model of a beautiful basset hound, to boot.

HENTSCH MAN

Hentsch Man was a bit of a squeeze as the brand held the presentation in their charming (i.e. tiny) Monmouth Street store. The clothes were, as always, pretty straightforward, with plenty of wearable staples in greys, black and white and the odd wacky pattern thrown in for good measure. Best of all were the walls, covered floor to ceiling in doodles.

MR. START

The idea for Mr. Start (which is Mr. Philip Start and his wife, Brix Smith Start) this season was to show that they are ‘not just about suits’ and so they’re not, although the suits were lovely, including one in racing green that would make for an interesting addition to any tailoring fan’s wardrobe. There were polo necks a-plenty, cardigans and loosely belted overcoats – nothing flashy, nothing weird, just a lot of very lovely clothing.

MEADHAM KIRCHHOFF

According to the invitation, ‘pillage’ was the theme for Meadham Kirchhoff’s collection and, between the heat and the scuffling crowds,  the SW1 show space did have an element of ‘war zone’ to it. The models – decked out mainly in monochrome separates, including several black PVC pieces – sat motionless amongst piles of bin bags and broken wood. It was all a bit ‘Les Mis’, albeit with a heavy gothic streak.

FASHION EAST

Dogs are clearly a key accessory for autumn/winter ’13 (as seen at MAN earlier today), but Joseph Turvey at Fashion East wins Best in Show with his Dalmatians, whose spots made it into his collection, too. Elsewhere, Kit Neale went with colour and a PVC onesie, Nasir Mazhar favoured scary masks and Maarten van der Horst stuck with monochrome. Props to Bobbly Abley, though, whose spaceman-themed collection featured a model in an actual flying saucer.

HACKETT

Hackett was, well, Hackett really – lots of smartly tailored suits, lots of tweed (here and everywhere else – it is here to STAY, gents) and nothing more off-the-wall than the odd cape. And for all the gents in the audience, a nice filly – in the shape of veteran model, Erin O’Connor.

You would need to be more or less dead not to have had the word ‘Skyfall’ permanently burnt into your subconscious lately, as everyone’s favourite casino-dwelling, martini-drinking misogynist has made such a big to-do about his fiftieth anniversary. Not to be outdone in the zeitgeist-tapping stakes, fashion has followed suit and served up its very own casino-nodding trend, which we like to call Fashion Roulette. Red and black together were seen all over the catwalks of autumn/winter, so give the trend a spin and see where you land…

You may end up in the dark and sexy pocket of the wheel with Christopher Kane, who went heavy on red and black, showing dresses in red silk moiré with black leather trim and one with black leather sleeves tied around the waist like a sweater. The femininity of a dress in blood red, rose-flocked tulle became almost menacing given the black leather panels across the shoulders and waist. Ricardo Tisci at Givenchy also went dark and sexy with an equestrian-inspired collection that was more Fifty Shades of Fillies than Jilly Cooper chic. Black leather coats, boots and gloves gave red silk shirts and pleated skirts a visceral edge and one red silk vest featured black embroidery not unlike a Rorschach test – perhaps this collection best sums up what Tisci sees when he looks in the ink blot.

If power without the darkness sounds less scary, let Jason Wu, Victoria Beckham and Proenza Schouler kiss your lucky dice. Beckham’s sporty collection featured a figure-hugging red dress with a deep V-neck and black stripes across the chest, waist and hips. Inspired by China, Wu used the country’s signature red with a military theme for black-edged shirts and pencil skirts, plus a jacket and knee-length dress each cinched at the wait with a black leather belt. Proenza Schouler also went Far East with kimono jackets and woven leather pieces, including an asymmetric, black mesh coat with a red shirt dress beneath.

Thakoon brought woven leather into the pretty pocket of the wheel when he covered the red silk column of one dress with a lattice of black leather, also showing black dresses printed with red love hearts and lips. Jonathan Saunders went roulette with Sixties geometric sweaters and floral printed dresses, whilst Roksanda Illincic used black beaded fringe and embroidery on crimson for a grown up contribution to the pretty pack that included Antonio Berardi’s and Henry Holland’s black and red fur coats.

Michael Kors, who also showed Fashion Roulette fur, really ran with the trend across checked blanket coats, skirts and trousers and went to the masculine side on an oversized greatcoat. He was joined there by Donna Karan, who took things a step further with red tailored blazers above black trousers, a red wrap dress under a black fedora and a red haircalf overcoat paired with black leather boots.

Whether you’re in the mood for darkness, something pretty or a bit of power dressing, Fashion Roulette has it covered in a range of ways that are all bold and punch-packing. With inspiration name-checks for ‘Casino’-era Sharon Stone already abounding for spring/summer (from Julien MacDonald and Moschino, to name just two), the casino theme isn’t going anywhere yet. Hurrah, we say, for this time it’s not only the [fashion] house that always wins.

I originally wrote this piece for The Telegraph – read it on their site here

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