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 Tom Ford, Jasper Conran and Marios Schwab celebrated the
female form in their autumn/winter 2014 collections with
figure-hugging dresses, sleek pencil skirts and tailored jackets
in luxurious fabrics like fur, wool, cashmere and silk.
"There have been a lot of clothes that are really kind of hiding
the body and the body disappearing so it's nice to see designers
embracing the idea of letting a woman look like a woman," said
Ken Downing, fashion director at American luxury department
store Neiman Marcus.
Monochrome palettes with punctuated shades of grey were fused
with burnt orange, ochre, cornflower blue and fuchsia to create
clashing color blocking effects.
"There's a very interesting color palette going on," said TV
presenter Brix Smith-Start, who owns luxury boutique Start
London.
"The way that the colors are put together, in a new clashing,
color-blocking with all these unexpected colors together is
interesting," she said.
Texture and embellishment also played a key role.
Designers moved away from digital prints and toward shearling,
fur, cashmere and leather at Burberry, Topshop Unique and
Christopher Raeburn.
Silk tops and dresses were embellished with floral appliqués and
sequins at John Rocha and Temperley London, which focused on
creating a relaxed but elegant feel.
"There is a real return to comfort. We have come out of a era,
post-financial crisis, where everyone got really dressed up and
buttoned down," said Imran Amed, editor of online magazine
Business of Fashion.
"We haven't lost the polish but everything is more relaxed,
there are lot of relaxed silhouettes and beautiful fabrics," he
added.
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 London Fashion Week regulars Christopher Kane, J.W. Anderson and
Nicholas Kirkwood have all recently enjoyed investment from global
fashion companies Kering and LVMH.
"In London, we've got the balance really well with clothes that
buyers will want, whilst still being directional, beautiful pieces.
London seems to have come of age," said Sasha Wilkins, founder of
fashion blog LibertyLondonGirl.
Eye-catching accessories also featured prominently as growth in the
luxury market moves towards more affordable goods like handbags and
shoes.
Anya Hindmarch, whose shows are often a highlight on
the fashion week calendar, looked towards iconic household brands
for inspiration and used dancing models on conveyor belts to
showcase her latest collection.
Vintage designs from brands such as Kellogg's Frosties and Coco Pop
cereals were added onto large tote bags and snakeskin clutches.
"I've always been obsessed with the idea of taking something that is
every day but doing it in a really beautiful way," said Hindmarch.
Britain's fashion industry is estimated to be worth 26 billion
pounds ($43.45 billion), according to the latest figures from the
British Fashion Council.
(Additional reporting by Basmah Fahim; editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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