The Shows fuk@lfw s/s 05

The first show of the Week was a designer's debut in at a hotel in W1. Unfortunately, after popping back stage for a pre-show interview I realised that this was one of those "Sponsored by Saga Furs of Scandinavia" jobs. OK, so maybe Kristian Aadnevik was desperate for funds and without finance from these furmongers, he wouldn't have been able to produce a collection at all. Or maybe being from Norway fur just doesn't have the same moral significance for him - who knows? But seeing it displayed on the catwalk just looks wrong, ugly, and outdated - thank God most designers showing in London won't entertain it.

Some of the best shows of the Week took place in the Brittania car park in SW1. Sounds daft but this really was a great venue. Arched glass ceilings providing good natural light (perfect for seeing and filming clothes), simple wooden benches from which everyone got a good view of the show. Zambesi, a fun and frolicksome Weardowney and Jean-Pierre Braganza's fantastic second collection (look at the tailoring and details) all showed in this car park.

Monday started out well at Bora Aksu's show. We managed to have a chat in the frantic atmosphere backstage before (the preparations for the hair and make-up were amazing to witness) and enjoyed this really floaty and filmic collection (someone should commission Bora to make clothes for a feature film - he'd be ace). Unfortunately, while we were at a gentlemens' club watching Victim Fashion Street's models walk up and down stairs showing the collection in four separate rooms, we missed the beginning of the Red or Dead show at the Royal Academy.

This was a recurring theme of Fashion Week: while some of the on-schedule shows ran really late, some of the off-schedule shows were running near to time particularly those at On/Off. My jaw dropped as people were seated just a few minutes after the official show time - could be a new trend. On Tuesday we wanted to be at both Ashish (a full-on display of dramatic colour and fabulous prints) and the Belle&Bunty show at On/Off: considering Ashish was scheduled for a 6.15pm start, we hoped the scooter would get our snapper back to the Royal Academy in time. Forget it. Belle&Bunty's audience had seen the show (the 7pm show started just 12 minutes late) and were enjoying cocktails at the party round the corner by the time Ashish finally got going at 7.50pm.

The following morning we were in hysterics at Julia Clancey when a member of the Der Spiegel crew joined the models on the catwalk to get some good shots. No one seemed to mind - he'd have been crucified elsewhere! One of the most impressive collections of the week came from two former Fake London designers, Carlos and Francisco, who launch their Collado Garcia label this season. Luxury casualwear beautifully executed, the corset T-shirts and suede details on the bombers and anoraks stand out for me.