Former Skunk Anansie singer Skin was on the catwalk

- Ally Pyle's blog
- London Fashion Week main page
- News on VOGUE.COM
- Show reports on VOGUE.COM

The mood at the Fashion East show may have been enhanced by the fact that the fashion crowd had been sipping Champagne all afternoon on the Moet bus but - whatever the reason - Noki started the proceedings to riotous whoops and cheers from the crowds who crowded the Brick Lane warehouse.

The show was a contradiction from start to finish - the inspiration seeming to come half from rock n' roll bikers and half from Disney cartoons.

Ripped Mickey Mouse T-shirts were turned into long dresses, their ruffled and tulle underskirts giving off a rock-meets-flamenco feel, this juxtaposed by the formidable skulls on a couple of their backs.

Most of the outfits were accompanied by amazing headgear - some looked gladiatorial with thick spears pointing from the top - others customised baseball caps with crazy visors.

The focal point of the show was on the trousers with crotches that met at the models knees - a new East End bloomer perhaps?

While we were musing on this point, the final model waltzed out, none other than Skin from Skunk Anansie.

Prompting applause and cheers from the crowd, Skin tried to keep a stern face while showing Noki's final piece - a skintight T-shirt dress with a long turqouise skirt with frills on the train, her hands firmly clasped in a sweet muff at the waist.

David David's first show for Fashion East was all about print. The designer's colourful triangular shapes were present on the T-shirts, lycra dresses and scarves he presented - as well as on the the thick headbands, little ankle socks and backpacks that accompanied the models, both male and female, down the runway.

The less subtle outfits came in the form of silk camisoles tucked-in to high-waisted body-con skirts while a skinny all-in-one boilersuit with denim jean bottoms and a patterned top was there for the more avant-garde fashionista.

Louise Gray made a name for herself in the fashion industry last season with her colourful shift dresses and geometric embellishments - and her collection for autumn/winter 2008-9 continued a little too closely in that vein.

For her show at Fashion East, the Scottish designer stuck firmly with what she knows - bright silk shift dresses with, this season, zip embellishments or fringed tassles.

The colours were a vibrant mixture of orange, purple, yellow - some with black and white striped arms and nu-rave colours alternating from front-to-back.

Disregarding what is shaping up to be a big trend on the catwalks for next autumn, Gray showed a range of mini shift dresses instead of the long body-con creations we have seen elsewhere - but for one floor-length silk dress with monochrome stripes at the front and a long yellow train billowing behind at the back.

While her models refrained from looking too girly by wearing thick platform trainers and black stockings and suspenders, the collection lacked the originality that we were so looking forward to seeing from one of London's brightest new stars.