As for trends, it’s all about the shoulder - not just hang ‘em wide Eighties style, though there was plenty of that at the young end from TopShop Unique to Armand Basi One and Fashion East -  but also high-rise puffs and curves at Giles,

Roksanda Ilincic

Roksanda Ilincic and Erdem. Modern graphic lines and geometry are everywhere too, in strong black outlines at Christopher Kane or played out in sheer and opaque corsetry styles at Richard Nicoll and Jasper Conran. Knitwear gets a big billing, in body-conscious laddered and textured style at new name Mark Fast, in Robocop meets space warrior kit at Louise Goldin. There are clothes for real life too - smart but sexy gilt-buttoned and satin-bowed dresses and suits in Designer of the Year Luella’s feminine and witty take on Chanel style, and in the simply graphic, modern cuts and draped jerseys from Osman Yousefzada and young Australian Josh Goot.

New stars - Erdem Moralioglu has been around for a year or two but this collection really put  him on the map - fabulous, feminine dresses either with a full skirt or slimline with soft, full sleeves, in a mix of his own, deceptively sweet but slightly eerie, floral prints and heavy silk, some with delicately appliqued lace and embroidery.

Exquisite, couture-quality work and great cutting - some of the  best occasion pieces in town, but won’t be cheap. Kinder Aggugini is a new name with a great  pedigree - Galliano, Versace etc - and his own very distinctive look of brilliant tailoring mixed with the softest, lightest dresses with his own prints layering florals, spots and inky dip-dye. Try a gorgeous chiffon evening dress under a  beautifully-cut jacket with delicate stitching detail and a hint of jet-beaded lace at the hem. Of the first-timers, Mary Katrantzou’s amazing prints based on the sensuous lines of scent bottles, plus assured cutting and great, graphic jewels, and Holly Fulton’s astonishing bright dresses with Art Deco embellishment of vivid enamel or Swarovski crystal are the ones to watch.

Old stars - Aquascutum dresses women, not waifs, and showed on a procession  of 40-plus models to prove it. Led out by the perennially elegant Stella Tennant (who isn’t quite 40),

Stella Tennant - Aquascutum

they  included Yasmin Le Bon, Susie Bick, Cecilia Chancellor and Jenny Howarth, all looking fab in dashing full-skirted trenchcoats and cosy fur sweaters and with far more personality than today’s identikit faded blondes.

New openings - Fashion Week is the perfect time to make a splash with a new shop in these tricky times. First up was Browns Shoes in Brook Street as the boutique turned over its former bridal ship to all the shoe brands we know and love from the main shop and the website, with special emphasis on ultra-talented young Brit Nicholas Kirkwood and his signature raked-back platforms and elegantly carved heels. Then Joseph opened the first of its radical redesigns on Westbourne Grove - all white space and grey limed wood and, in addition to its upgraded casual chic own-label range, there’s a mind-blowing collection of hip designers - Balmain, Maison Martin Margiela, Zac Posen, Marni (no prints!), David Szeto, Zero Maria Cornejo, Charles Anastase etc. And find high-octane glamour at Azzaro on Mount Street - one of France’s best-known evening wear labels now designed by the talented Vanessa Seward, who has worked a design project with Jemima Khan, one girl who knows how to dress the glamour lifestyle.

New tights - bored with black opaques? Give them some spin with the gold seam and spider’s web (her logo) design by hit high shoes designer Charlotte Olympia, or a scattering of open gilt eyelets with tiny rings attached, as spotted at Bora Aksu’s show of tough-romantic little dresses.

Best parties - two go head to head - the opening of Stephen Jones’s hat exhibition at the V&A where everyone wore a hat in honor of one of the world’s most imaginative milliners and curators, and the Design Museum dinner to celebrate Puma’s sponsorship of students at Central St.Martin’s college, hosted by Puma’s creative consultant and fashion genius Hussein Chalayan. Guests chatted round chic, spacious long tables and then had the chance of  a post-prandial wander through the Museum’s excellent current exploration of Chalayan’s work.

London Fashion Week billed itself as “celebrating 25 years of of British fashion”, which came as a bit  of a surprise to those who reckon our fashion heritage goes back just a little  further. Remember Mary Quant in the Sixties? Not to mention Ossie Clark and Zandra Rhodes in the Seventies plus a small-scale version of the London fashion exhibition which started in 1974. More properly, it celebrated London Fashion Week in its present form, and seeing the way it is now -  with over fifty shows and a major exhibition - compared with how it started, that’s something to bang the drum about. Being squeezed by New York running later into one day less than usual only did it good, with extra vitality and even more going on than usual making for a really buzzy atmosphere. The British Fashion Council went on the offensive and flew in journalists from sceptical places like the States and France, who appeared to like what they saw and got invited to more parties in four days than in a week back home. Plus there is more back-up than ever, from the industry and private initiatives, to help our talented young designers establish proper businesses. So, even with a slightly smaller exhibition and some designers opting for static presentations rather than shows, this season the attitude is upbeat and, as ever with our designers, economic necessity is the mother of creative invention.

In times of hardship like these, most retailers and designers would expect sales would slow down due to the recession but I guess obviously not if you’re Stella McCartney. Her work is currently at its peak with two magnificent recent collections for Autumn/Winter 08-09 and Spring/Summer 09 to hold her on the ground if things ever got shakey. It has been a good year for the designer and after opening her first flagship store in Tokyo this past November and previously in London and New York, she will soon be celebrating the launch of yet another recently opened store  - her first flagship in Paris.

The store is located in heart of the city at the ‘Jardin du Palais Royal’ an unusual location for luxury compared to how Avenue Montaigne or Rue Saint Honore are more for the high-end fashion consumer. However, Stella has obviously come up with her own prediction if her brand survives the credit crunch and says that she thinks the Palais Royal has “just the right balance” as it will not only draw in those who already know her brand but the tourists as-well. She boasts her company’s eco-friendliness as an added quality that should hopefully give customers another reason to choose her brand in these times of economic instability.

If you’re soon to be taking a trip to Paris, The Stella McCartney store is located near the end of the Palais Royal gallaries at No.114-121 Galerie de Valois or visit www.stellamccartney.com - Liv

The season of giving is thankfully also the season for parties! Tired of the same-old, same-old? Update your festive wardrobe with Iconic Chic’s handy party style tips and even if you don’t have a celebrity make-up artist on hand you too can achieve a fab look with their expert make-up tips at Elle UK’s marvellous beauty site with words of wisdom contributed by the likes of Bobbi Brown, Ruby Hammer and Pat McGrath. Click on the images below to discover Iconic Chic’s tips on party accessories, and Elle Beauty’s experts’ advice on how to wear your make-up. Party on!

Shining Look

Heel Thyself

Winter Colour

Winter Colour

Chipped Polish

Smoky Eye Tips

Dreamy scents on display at an Annick Goutal boutique

A limited edition Annick Goutal bottle

To fulfill all your Christmas dreams in one easy move, take a peek at either of the shops that Parisian perfume company Annick Goutal have just opened. Goutal, who died in 1999, was a great “nose” - her cult citrussy scent Eau d’Hadrien merely scratches the surface of her amazing talent. There is a huge choice of fabulously classy scents, from the purest flower (Rose Absolu) to the ancient and haunting (Sables). Now her bright and beautiful daughter Camille is running the show and expanding it in new directions. She whizzed over from Paris this week and showed me round her Mount Street domain. Upstairs, around the elegant fireplace and mirrors, it’s like a sweet shop - gorgeous ribbed bottles with gold or coloured ribbon, some with butterflies perched - and helpful assistants to guide you through the different fragrance areas. There are also deliciously scented bath, facial and home products. Downstairs is more a sexy boudoir feel, with the fantastically sensual newest range - Les Orientalistes, of which Musc Nomade and Encens Flamboyant are guaranteed to make you swoon. Add in beautiful, slightly boho jewellery inspired by the new perfumes, and fabulously elegant lingerie in classic silk satin and lace but unusual spicy colours, and you have a girl’s heaven on earth. Look foxy, feel smooth, smell great - what better seasonal gift for you and the man in your life? - Avril Groom
www.annickgoutal.com
109 Mount Street W1, 20 Motcomb Street SW1

Autumn display at Few and Far, winner of Best New Shop 2008

British Design Award winner, the Few And Far shop in Knightsbridge

If you’re facing an unticked list of names on your Christmas gift-giving list, why not check out the winner of the British Design Awards for Best New Shop 2008, Few And Far in Knightsbridge? Founded by Priscilla Carluccio (yes, of the Carluccio’s and also sibling extraordinaire to Sir Terence Conran) it stocks a wide range of super desirables: accessories, furniture, lighting, clothing and food! And best of all, all products are stocked in small quantities with a wide price range so you’re bound to find something for everyone on your shopping list! For shop info, go to their website.

Bill Gibb: Fashion and Fantasy by Iain R Webb

A night for golden oldies - one of the year’s best and quirkiest fashion parties was at Zandra Rhodes’ Costume and Textiles Museum in Bermondsey, where Twiggy opened a fantastic exhibition of designs by the late and much lamented Bill Gibb, and launched a brilliant new book about him by Iain R.Webb. Ladies of a certain age swigged champagne and swapped personal stories about the designer while looking fab in his originals especially the knits, with complex patterns by Kaffe Fassett, and sinuous jersey dresses with sequinned insets. For anyone who knows little about this outrageously talented Scot, who sadly died in 1988 aged 45, he was a style icon of the 1970s and still quoted as a big influence by designers of the calibre of John Galliano and Giles Deacon. Given that he flourished in a recession, expect to see similar wildly romantic designs and fantasy fabric mixes on a catwalk near you soon - he is well overdue a revival. - Avril Groom

The shows all ran very late, so Paris made Milan look like a well oiled engine in comparison - there’s a surprise! The overall feeling was back to what they do well for most of the designers probably because of the current economic climate - the majority of the designers focused on what will sell rather than the revolutionary.

One theme seemed to be the underlying African, tribal vibe, with prints on effortlessly light fabrics, lovely soft spring colours with more wearable shoes than in Milan, though not so sure about the pregnant lady heels (fertility symbol!) by John Galliano for Dior.

Issey Miyake Paris S/S 09

Very strong collections from Yohji Yamamoto, Dries van Noten and Issey Miyake show a design spirit typical of those designers but not specifically trend identifiable - these are collections that could have come from any time and don’t appear to be seasonal specific. Very useful when clothes may have to last longer than we are used to. Ann Demeulemeester is another who sticks to her guns, adding more colour - flame and saffron - and lighter fabrics but her asymmetric, occasionally androgynous, style seems more feminine and wearable this season.

Many designers are celebrating anniversaries – Margiela twenty years in the business, amongst rumours that this most reclusive of designers is, or already has, taken a back seat in his company, though as usual with him this is shrouded in mystery and there are denials. Sonia Rykiel celebrated forty years and going strong, though mostly her daughter Nathalie designs now. The Paris icon’s show and party was the bash of the week, especially the 30-odd outfits designed by other top names in Rykiel style, with most applause going to the “wig” jacket by Margiela which looked like her bushy red hair, and Gaultier’s long, loosely knitted mohair dress which looked like a work in progress - its strapless neckline was formed by a pair of giant knitting needles with the stitches still cast on.

Spotted: One super cool fashionista seen struggling to walk in the über-high Stella McCartney heelless clogs – these seem best left for the mantlepiece as a piece of art, rather than running around the shows. Ironically the very strange Marc Jacobs – ‘backwards’ heel which shows off the sole, should one want to see it, seems a far easier ‘walk’.

Friday, 3rd

All week the press have been seen stomping around in black strappy cage shoes on huge platforms but their days are numbered now that style leader Carine Roitfeld, the Editor of French vogue (who virtually started the bondage shoe trend) has opted for plain black patent, high heeled classic courts with no platform.

By Friday, the shows had started to heat up and the fabulous Yves St Laurent Show had THE accessory of the season, a mesh boot with Eiffel Tower- girder heel – a must have on every fashionista’s list – wow, we want those NOW! Stephano Pilati is very clear as to where he’s taking things - strong, modern, no wishy-washy lack of direction and even a shoe you can walk in!

Talk about folie des grandeurs for Chanel - Karl Lagerfield took over the huge Grand Palais and built a set from the façade of the Rue de Cambon store with the roadway in front of if as the catwalk – mixed chic suits with Victoriana, and Wallis Simpson-style hair with narrow Alice bands for the models – hmm… make of it what you will.

Hermes, Paris S/S 09

Check out the strappy sandals with abstract versions of house symbols, and the python clutches with “dog collar” studs. Best of all were Naomi Campbell and Stephanie Seymour as two very sophisticated saloon bar girls - really separating the women from the waifs.

John Galliano, Paris S/S 09

Galliano is the only place to go for a great frock - he might have shown in a tram shed beyond the Péripherique but this was so not industrial, just fabulous dresses in all colours from hot red and pink to soft pastel prints, many shown under variants of his favourite jacket shapes, from Poiret-style opera coats to eighteenth century frock coats but all given a slouchy parka look. Forget the mad hats, and the extraordinary shoes with what looked like two curlicued heels at right angles - this was his most wearable collection for years and the buyers were in heaven.

Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton reckoned more was more - great little separates, mainly a fitted, sharp-shouldered jacket with a pair of wide, soft trousers or a flirty, duck-tail skirt - but then he added wrapped belts, bags, sandals and huge jewels, mostly metallic and sporting beads and feathers - slightly tribal, slightly Parisienne but wow, one at a time please! Even Alber Elbaz at Lanvin, having done beautifully couture-cut, calm, colour blocked clothes with easy volume, suddenly broke out into bright leopard print, metallics and crazy sunglasses. Never mind, it all gave a great lift to a slightly sombre week and something to look forward to if the winter of the credit crunch ever ends.