Gareth Pugh AW2013 | Monday Moodboard

Our favourite fashion kid from Sunderland, Gareth Pugh was this season inspired by a tribe of women called the "Asgarda" who live in the mountains in Ukraine and seek autonomy from men. I am itching to throw on one of those long coats and stalk some lofty snow-swept crags with a band of kick-ass female warriors... Elegant and powerful, clean, architectural all spring to mind. Too much for ya? Appazza some of the collection was fashion from bin liners from a Dalston pound store. Natch! The recession never looked more chic.

Photos by Lea Colombo via Another Magazine

London Collections | James Long Autumn Winter 2013

After Sibling, it was off to The Old Sorting Office for the James Long show. The textures were incredible, all the more sensual against the all-grey concrete backdrop, from quilted leathers to metallic threads in the portrait intarsia sweater to brocade trousers. The bomber shape was pretty key, and the soft shoulder was central with the sweaters too. I loved the colour palette to this collection - earthy and yet exquisite, this was a covetable collection for sure - though those jumpers need a frame around them they're so pretty....

London Collections: Sibling Autumn Winter 2013

So tonight I toddled down after work to check out the delights on offer at the London Collections menswear shows. First up, Sibling, in the vaults of the Hospital Club. Setting the tone at the end of the runway were these immortal words:

What could it mean? A floral suicide note, the ultimate hipster death slogan? Who knows. The jumper featuring the same words earned the witty tweet from GQ magazine "Well we've found our next Christmas jumper..." Ho ho, indeed. I loved the layering of knits upon giant knits, and the navy and baby pink was a cute combination. The silhouettes created by the snoods were of epic proportions, made me wonder why I ever thought one scarf was enough. I loved Charlie Porter's idea that there's a difference between fashion and style for men, which inevitably moderates how many new ideas filter down to street level (and this falls more into the fashion bracket for sure) but to see it on those delicious models is half of believing it. I mean, mittens or no, you gotta say this collection got swagger. 

Bernard Chandran Spring Summer 2013

Sporty yet urbane, tough yet cool. Inspired by "the rough edges of a close friend's love tale", if the muse behind Bernard Chandran's Spring Summer 2013 collection has been spurned in love, she's coming back fighting fit. Models sported graphic eyeliner and retro-futuristic shades that resembled catwalk-ready visors. Always one for mixing an interesting fabric or too, the coats that mixed silk and leather, with a raglan sleeve to give a soft but strong shoulder shape, were the combat clothes of a sophisticated fighter. A palette that mixed fresh whites with pink going to monochrome prints that oozed confidence without being shouty, through to blacks with navy, it was elegant and authorative with just a dash of girly flair.

Some minimal dresses incorporate just a panel of bright colour at the throat with flowing lengths of nude and blush, a quietly chic way of doing things without using embellishment or jelweery. Sleek lines in cutaway frocks with slightly oversize shoulders gave way to intricate sequin work on dresses that turned an initial instance of a graded hem line (short at the front, longer at the back) right around (thigh skimming at the back, floor length to the front). Because if surviving the ordeals of love isn't about tearing up the rule book of who you are to come back fighting fit then what it? There was also frocks with chiffon skirts under corset tops that showed this girl hasn't lost her mojo.

Photos: Emma Creen / Kevin Chasnais