London Fashion Week - an insider’s guide!

For more catwalk pictures from London Fashion Week, go to the LFW website.

It has been a frantic week for fashionable folk as London Fashion Week has arrived to brighten up morose September skies. Our resident fashion guru, Avril Groom has been on the frontline, in the catwalk trenches armed with her mobile phone, ringing IC Towers with updates during lulls in proceedings. Here are some of her observations:

Celebrity spotting:
Mischa Barton, Emilia Fox and Rosamund Pike at the Temperley show.
Shirley Bassey, Joely Richardson, Natalia Vodianova, Erin O’Connor at Julien Macdonald.
Samantha Cameron at Giles Deacon

What civilians were wearing:
Women were making a stab at the ‘new elegance’ look - think slim, longer, ladylike silhouettes and high heels, all very Mouret. The new pointed toe goes with this look.
Clothes took second stage to footwear which divided into two camps: huge heels in every shape, or flat-soled shoes, with very little in between.

Seen on the catwalks:
Body con skirts at Giles and models wearing the most extraordinary Louboutins with huge heels and triple ankle straps.
Abstract floral prints at Nicole Farhi, vaguely reminiscent of Dries Van Noten’s offering from last year.
Silhouettes and trims inspired by dinosaurs at Christopher Kane, and models wearing vertiginous and super-fab Manolo platforms on their feet - more dinosaur scales, plus rhinoceros horns.
Julien Macdonald, with a new backer behind the brand, pared down the glitz and showed a sophisticated collection in shades of the desert with a whiff of the 1980s - very Versace-esque, in a good way.
An abundance of flora at House of Holland, with sunglasses bedecked with flowers and fabulous floral-printed fabric bags with red leather trim (all very Gucci).
We time-travelled to 1985 at Topshop Unique with tongue-firmly-in-cheek teddy boy-style big, long, loose single-button jackets.
Similar but more grown-up, in gorgeous block-printed shades of pink, at Richard Nicoll.
At Louise Goldin it was all weirdly sportif yet futuristic, like Bladerunner meets the Bolshoi. Incredible, mind-blowing knits, some of them (padded geometric bra-tops especially) wearable only by the flat-chested.

At Luella, ruffles and bitsy florals comingled and accessory-wise it was pearls, pearls and more girls in pearls.
Even bigger, bolder, tougher pearls at Richard Nicoll.
Best prints in town - Basso and Brooke’s amazing Oriental excursion, with wonderful rich colours on perfect simple shapes, all cinched with modernist leather obi belts and set off with giant gilt hairpins and combs

Fashion predictions for next Spring/Summer:
The new erogenous zone: shoulders and shoulderpads, believe it or not - team with slim knee-length skirts so it’s not volume all over.
Mini-crinies will be huge - if a skirt is short make sure it’s voluminous.
Mirrored silver elements were spotted on fab Louboutin shoes at Giles and on great clutch bags at Mulberry, so hang onto your metallics.
Floral prints will still be huge, metaphorically speaking, as florals for 2009 will be dainty or abstract.
The Eighties is a decade that refuses to die stylistically so embrace your inner Melanie/Sigourney circa Working Girl as we might be wearing lots of draped jersey tops with body con skirts and dresses, sharp suits with sharper shoulder pads and even paper bag-waisted, pegtop trousers (oh the horror).