Afternoon:
9°c
Ground control to Agy and the spacewomen
Laura Craik17 Sep 2008
In a fashion week that has - quite blessedly - been fairly celebrity free, Giles Deacon bucked the trend with a front row that played host to a bizarre mix of faces. Samantha Cameron and Jo Wood sat alongside Mischa Barton, Emma Watson, Lizzie Jagger, Leah Wood, Alexa Chung, Kimberly Stewart, Daisy Lowe and Jaime Winston.
With the exception of Mrs Cameron and Mrs Wood, the others would barely have been out of nappies when the decade that Deacon most referenced - the Eighties - was playing out.
Not that this will stop them lapping up the trends, which always look more convincing on those who were too young to wear them the first time around.
Remember Pacman or Space Invaders? Both appeared as shiny graphics on a hand-printed white dress, while some of the models wore outsized plastic helmets that aped Pacman's comic, though slightly menacing, appearance.
Then there were the peaked caps, reminiscent of Frankie Goes To Hollywood in their seminal Relax video, and worn with high-shine black patent pencil skirts and fetishistic, ankle-strap shoes by Christian Louboutin.
Deacon also revisited the late Eighties/early Nineties rave culture. There were shades of early Michiko Koshino, the Japanese designer beloved of London's club kids, in the camouflage-print dresses, some wide and trapeze-line, others cut tight to the body.
The camouflage print appeared in a number of colourways, from stark black, white and grey to soft pastel pink and lilac with an iridescent sheen.
In contrast to all the intricate hand printing, there was a series of simple, body-conscious dresses in orange, yellow and turquoise matte jersey worn with handbags of the same fabric so they matched exactly. Perforated nylon T-shirts and vest tops added a sporty element to the collection.
Model Agyness Deyn made her first appearance at London Fashion Week, in a yellow and black printed pinafore dress with a low-cut back.
She was joined by a refreshingly eclectic roster of models, including Jourdan Dunn, Elise Crombez and Jessica Stam, as well as thirtysomething models Emma Balfour and Christina Kruse.
