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Details at Sadie Williams London Fashion Week 

MA fashion textiles graduate Sadie Williams had always known she wanted to be a fashion designer. As a child, she designed “funny little outfits and accessories” and went on to customise her own outfits for school discos as a teen. The futuristic column dresses she created quite literally lit up the runway. Proving to be one of the most memorable collections of the show, her garments seem quite a departure from the biker culture she cites as her inspiration but perhaps this is simply a testament to the the limitlessness of the creative process. Certainly impractical but undeniably beautiful – isn’t this what fashion is all about?

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Orla Kiely Spring/Summer 2014 Presentation

THE Orla Kiely girl is taking a trip next summer and into the plains of Africa is where she will go. However, set amidst camping stoves, a dust-track floor and against a hazy safari terrain, Kiely’s spring/summer 2014 presentation was less practical outdoors, more preppy traveller. The printed short suits, buttoned shirt dresses and belted trenches all had subtle elements of explorer about them with their box-pleat flap pockets, epaulettes and khaki colour palettes. The A-line skirts, printed shifts and pearl-trimmed dresses however, said sweet and chic rather than intrepid adventurer. These are not the kind of girls who get their hands dirty, more the types that hop around in their knee-high socks and berets with a pout - but charming nonetheless.

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 Jaimee Mckenna 

If Issey is the king of pleating, then McKenna is the queen of our castle. They say ‘blue is the most human colour’, and the cobalt shade so famously used by Yves Klein makes a magical duo with garments exhibiting incredible technical design skill. We wouldn’t be surprised if it has left the international press at LFW’s Fashion Scout showcase wondering: “have we found a female Miyake?” 

 Layers of blue fabric pleated into origami-like patterns bounced down the catwalk  Jaimee McKenna's Autumn Winter 2013 show.Knitted from lambswool, the fabric were felted to create a more rigid material that could be creased into tessellating pleats in various styles.

"I found an image from a 1950s Vogue of an elaborate pleated skirt that had such structure and presence," McKenna told Dezeen. "I then developed my own felt that would hold its structure but still have a beautiful drape once it was pleated.The blue colour used for the entire collection was inspired by an ultramarine shade first mixed by post-war French artist Yves Klein

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Backstage at Peter Pilotto 

PETER PILOTTO used its spring/summer 2014 show this afternoon to announce its new collaboration with American retailer Target, something which in the past a host of labels – including our very own Anya Hindmarch and Matthew Williamson, plus the likes of Jason Wu and Prabal Gurung – have done. The brand will launch a line of womenswear, swimwear and accessories next February. But as to whether or not this afternoon’s collection was a hint of what we can expect from designers Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos, we’ll have to wait and see. For mainline spring/summer 2014, they looked to all things volcanic for inspiration – in their colour choices, their silhouettes, volume, fabrications and embellishments for what they described as a collection of “cinematic perspective”. And it was – stronger and bolder silhouettes than we have seen from this pair before, amped up by cerise, azure and coral shades inspired by the drawings of American artist Ken Price. Pilotto and Vos have always been great colourists – something that began with their digital prints and which was moved on today with the addition of orchid lace to create layers and layers, their signature peplum and ruffle details going slinky and lithe to look like exotic scales or kicking out into enormous flared skirts. Pilotto and Vos are an undoubted hit on the red carpet, but here we saw the addition of separates – shirting, jackets and skirts – which, coupled with their new Target collaboration, show they’re in pursuit of commercial success too, which is good thinking for them.

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Sophia Webster Presentation Spring/Summer 2014

WELCOME to the wonderful world of Sophia Webster, where it's a bug's life full of butterfly-engineered heels, flatforms piled high with blooms and the designer's signature colourful, graphic and fun creations are always there to please you. "It's an insect sleepover," explained the Cordwainers and Royal College of Art-trained footwear designer of her magical presentation today - cleverly pointing out that the models were posing on flowerbeds (as in flower beds and flowerbeds). Webster had been re-inspired by one of her previous collections designed while at the RCA, one all about butterflies.  "I just wanted to take that idea further really, using all sorts of insects and adding polka dots with their natural patterns," she said. Fun, super girly but refreshing for it, it's no wonder Webster has made such a quick impact on the fashion scene, her designs showcased last week also as part of the J Crew spring/summer collection in New York

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