Thursday @ AFW06

Day four of Alternative Fashion Week sees New Spitalfields Traders Market filled to the brim with spectators and busting at the seams backstage. Today gives us possibly the most far-ranging collection of themes yet and generates excitement for Friday's grand finale. Definitely worth noting is Oklahoma-born Nicole Moan's ceramic corsets. Her lacquered, waist-cinching designs, for men and women alike are teamed with punky platforms and billowing Victoriana skirts in bold, neon shades. Heaving bosoms pour out of her extraordinary creations, appropriately described as 'Victorian Verve'.

Jumping forward a few decades, Ricardo Ramos looks to 20th century fashion history in a series of styles representative of the past. The coquettish collection features muted tones and accents of powder blue lace and frills. Included are a tiered, high-necked creation reminiscent of the early 1900s and a contrasting clean-lined, art deco 60s shift dress. The designer commissioned Toni & Guy to tease the models tresses into styles appropriate to each fashion period, cleverly complementing each individual outfit.

Arriving back in the present, Juliana Sissons gives us a series of knitwear pieces in-keeping with current fashions. A winter palette of silvers and pale pinks features on a collection consisting of cropped shorts and artfully laddered pop-socks. Knitted jumpers are given ruching on sleeves, panels of hanging threads and playful cut outs, creating eye-catching details on her otherwise modest range.

Words: Selene Pearson.

Photos: Nick Ingham @ SmilePlease.net.