Newcomers seen as hopes of British fashion

As the last of the catwalk shows brought London Fashion Week to a close yesterday there was little unanimity as to what stood out in a very mixed week.

Three catwalk newcomers, Giles Deacon, Boudicca and Sophia Kokosolaki - who all showed off calendar - have been variously hailed as the great new hopes of British fashion. But despite extensive praise, business at the Boudicca stand yesterday was sluggish.

"It may work in terms of press, but people don't buy in London, they buy in Paris," said one of their representatives, shrugging her shoulders. Boudicca's mix of quirkiness and offbeat tailoring seemed to sum up the characteristics of many of the British collections.

Quirky is not a word, however, that springs to mind when it comes to Jean Muir, whose clothes for winter were predictably ladylike and rigorously well made in the most luxurious and exclusive fabrics one expects from this label. Fine striped cashmere knits and well mannered sage green tweed skirts blended together seamlessly in complementary shades, though a cute little terrier stole the show trotting out in a matching tweed coat. Frilled peplum waisted suits were deceptively detailed in cut, while black quilted wool coats with funnel necks were a nod to the current preoccupation with the 50s. Even the snakeskin that edged brown suede suits and the goatskin used for shrugs were made to behave in a refined fashion. But it wasn't all plain sailing.

Brown suits struck a dull and lifeless note and the gilded Tahiti prints that closed the show were definitely discordant.

When it comes to prints - which the British have always done well - the "Prints Charming" of the week was undoubtedly Jonathan Saunders, a designer known for intricately engineered patterns in kaleidoscopic colours. His collection, with figure hugging bodysuits and dresses cut so tight models had difficulty walking, was a dizzy combination of orange, grey, yellow and white, controlled by complex tailoring. Suit jackets contained as many as 20 pattern pieces and though he claimed that these were clothes for the "working girl look", vivid sheath knits, jumpsuits with silver and orange panels and frilled corset dresses are hardly the stuff of office wear. Everything was teamed with anthracite grey wool tights and high heels. Still, you had to admire his ingenuity and consummate craftsmanship.

Ghost, on the other hand, is a well-established label associated with plain rather than printed fabrics and anything but a spectral presence in British fashion. Tanya Sarne has years of experience behind her and her streetwise collection had Cilla Black, in the front row, beaming with delight. Shirt tailed dresses and quilted jackets in dusky pinks, dark aubergines and smoky lilacs - colours difficult to match with basics - were teamed with newly introduced Ghost drainpipe jeans, while ballerina wraps kept chiffon empire line dresses prettily in place.

Ghost makes great dresses for flat-chested women; good examples were high-waisted empire lines worn with polo necks and pleated baby doll numbers over jeans. A thrice belted kilt looked hip with high heels - though it's hardly a style for Cilla.