With a final click of stilettos, London Fashion Week drew to a close yesterday.
It was a quiet day at the tented village in South Kensington, although both Tristan Webber and A. Scott Henshall drew in the crowds. There was a lot of interest in Henshall. It was his first catwalk show in London Fashion Week as he had been awarded the first V.S. Sassoon Award for Cutting Edge Talent.
Henshall did little to disappoint or stun. Using a lot of cashmere and a quiet palette of chocolate, pumpkin and cream, he created wearable, sophisticated clothes.
Long, cowl-necked dresses were teamed with slim, knee-high boots and adorned with the slenderest of gold chains. Flowing pants in checked wool avoided looking like Rupert the Bear by their fine cut.
There was some humour in this collection. A pencil skirt was printed with chess pieces; an antique vacuum cleaner was picked out on the back of a tailored shirt in sequins; and an iron looped its way round a cream wool dress.
Lots of gold Lurex tights, chestnut leather cowls and gold chain belts completed the collection.
An exhibition featuring the work of some 140 designers which ran alongside the catwalk shows also drew to a close. It was a good week for the Irish designers displaying at the exhibition, with most winning new customers.
"It's my best year yet," claimed Louise Kennedy, who is a veteran of London Fashion Weeks. She pointed to a cropped suede chocolate jacket and some delicately embroidered black crepe pants and skirts as her best sellers.
It was the first time Amanda Pratt, of Hope and Thimble, had ever exhibited at the fashion week, although as one of the owners of the Avoca Handweavers group she is no stranger to retail. "It was agony but so exciting," she said.
Ms Pratt, who is already stocked in the prestigious London store Liberty, also notched up several new stocklists in France, Saudi Arabia, Norway and the US.
Irish labels Mary Gregory, Lyn Mar, Marc O'Neill and Vivien Walsh also reported good sales.