London Fashion Week opened yesterday on Valentine's Day with a bunch of flowery British media reports claiming rosy new directions for an ailing venue on the international catwalk calendar.
The reasons for optimism are prompted by moving its dates closer to Milan, appointing a new head of the fashion council and the attendance of American Vogue's powerful British-born editor, Anna Wintour, giving the event her imprimatur. Increasingly perceived as less important than New York, Milan or Paris, defections to other capitals by leading British designers have eroded London's status as a serious fashion destination for press and buyers in recent years.
It is, however, associated with young and emerging talent and most of the New Generation shows during fashion week are from unknowns straight out of Central St Martins or the RCA.
But do international buyers and press want to travel to London at great expense just to see fledglings, however exciting some of them may be?
One much vaunted new British star, for example, restricts admission.
The real commercial clout this week was happening at Pure in Olympia, a trade event that ended yesterday and for one Irish company alone generated more than £500,000 in orders.
At London Fashion Week, apart from catwalk shows staged by Paul Costelloe and John Rocha, there are only two Irish exhibitors, Joanne Hynes and Louise Kennedy in the static displays.
Paul Costelloe kicked off the five-day event with a polished and assured collection inspired by postwar London, all dark tones and lean silhouettes.
Though even he would be the last to consider himself "new and edgy" after 30 years in the business, his slouchy cuffed trousers in grey flannel or tartan, shapely, high-waisted skirts cinched with leather belts, along with steely satin blouses, had a Katherine Hepburn ease, fine-tuned to his market. Tweed was a strong trend both at his show and at that of Ashley Isham, who took a more glamorous, flashy approach to a rustic fabric.
Singapore-born Isham's opulent black and gold metallic tweeds, heavily weighted with jet or fringes of iridescent sequins, were extravagant, opulent and, along with tribal face paint and punkish hairstyles, were definitely destined for red rather than green carpets.
