Jessica Ogden fuk@lfw s/s 06

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside, so how fortunate that Jessica Ogden took us there with a soundtrack of 60s surf music and spotlights so hot you only had to shut your eyes to find yourself perspiring politely under an imaginary sun. Inspired by the dreamlike states evoked in the writing of Haruki Murakami, the point at which reality is blurred was re-created on the stage with a cast of stuffed characters that included a giraffe, a giant mouse, an apple and a pterodactyl-sized seagull. That these had been made from the fabrics of the collection just made the whole mise en scene more peculiar.

The collection itself offers bikinis under sundresses, gingham pleat shorts, puff sleeved blouses and beach tops in loose knit all created from specially sourced Indian fabrics that included patched men's shirting fabric and a sun bleached vertical deck chair print. Accessories ran the gamut from hand-crafted jewellery and shell-shaped bags, to bows graduated from small to huge, beach ball bags and flat sandal shoes made from criss-crossed canvas ribbons. For ss06 Ogden has given us an almost total-look beach holiday wardrobe. All that's missing is a bucket and spade.

Words: Maia Adams. Photos: David Jones.