Burberry and Jonathan Saunders a/w 2010, and Alice Dellal on the catwalk for Issa a/w 2010. Photos: PA, Chiaki Nozu/WireImage and Getty Images
For the second season in a row Burberry closed off London Fashion Week, and once again, Christopher Bailey delivered, both in terms of clothing and A-listers. Not only did Bailey find a formula in which every single jacket and coat that he sent down the runway, from military-style to cropped shearling, was a home run, but the starlets in front row including Mary-Kate Olsen, Claire Danes, Kristen Stewart and Kate Hudson, didn't disappoint. Major fashion players from Anna Wintour to Mario Testino to Carolina Herrera also sat front row, but those who weren't at London's Chelsea College of Art didn't necessarily miss out - the show was live-streamed at venues in major cities the world over, in 3D Avatar-style, so fashionistas from Dubai to New York could check out Hudson's green sparkly sequinned dress or Bailey's take on boots for fall (thigh-high, in case you missed it).
Jonathan Saunders went for a sporty-simple aesthetic at his show earlier in the day, foregoing the geometric gowns that established him in the fashion world in favour of easy separates and drop-waist dresses, while Basso & Brooke delivered a medley of colour in a collection inspired by Central Asian travels. "It was nomadic," Brooke told us after the show. "There was knitwear, chainmail, a bit of fur, but we delivered it through the print because we thought that would be more interesting. It was a nice challenge to play with something we haven't normally done." Meanwhile, at Issa, we spotted Princess Beatrice and Alexandra Burke front row at the transatlantic travel-inspired collection entitled NY-LON.
Since it was the last day of LFW, how could we resist a few after-show parties and several celebratory glasses of champagne? We were in good company with Anna Wintour at Liberty's celebration of their 10 Corso Como collection, where we met the incredible Carla Sozzani, whose husband reinterpreted the classic Liberty print for the range. "We wanted a new print but thought it has to be Liberty," Sozzani explained. "So he made a pile of designs and we chose the one that was the most Liberty. For me, a print is like a piece of jewellery, it's like an accessory," she enthused.
Our final stop of the evening was Selfridges, where Alice (Temperley) met Alice (in Wonderland) at a Mad as a Hatter party where guests entered the store through a rabbit hole-effect tunnel. In celebration of the new ALICE range by the designer and the Disney film (out March 5th), we snacked on chicken and (non-magical) mushroom spring rolls and mini beef and shepherd's pies, while drinking mini bottles of champagne (they were labelled DRINK ME, so we felt obliged to) and crazy cocktails out of tea cups. We thought we were imagining things when suddenly Courtney Love appeared...and performed.
And that's why we love LFW so much: the unexpected, the exciting, the magical. You never know what you're going to get. See you next season!