It is London Fashion Week again, and a bumper season has been planned with shows from Alexander McQueen, Matthew Williamson, Elspeth Gibson and John Rocha among the highlights.
The week opened yesterday with Ronit Zilka presenting a 1940s-inspired collection modelled by veteran Yasmin le Bon and newcomer Leah Wood, daughter of rock musicians Ronnie and Jo Wood.
With their hair in tiny plaits, models wore sparkly tweed halter-neck dresses, long sequinned coats and neat little 1940s hacking jackets, with swishing calf-length skirts in layers of black and purple chiffon.
Ben de Lisi added a touch of glamour to the opening day with long iridescent white evening dresses and a group of evening separates in a burnt-orange marbleised print sparkling with sequins.
Although there was a smattering of tweed daywear trimmed with patent leather, Ben de Lisi's strength lies in party wear with elegant raspberry-satin evening gowns and 1970s-style satin blouses with leather skirts and knee-length boots.
Jasmine Guinness, proud mum-to-be, took to the catwalk for Martin Kidman in clinging knit dresses and intricate intarsia-knitted skirts showing a New York skyline.
This spring's 1980s theme looks set to continue, if Martin Kidman has anything to do with it. Electric blue and black patterned knits with huge roll-neck collars, and tiny leather miniskirts created a sense of deja vu, only to be surpassed by the Wall Street beaded short striped suits.
Sometimes the fashion cycle spins so fast that you feel time has actually stood still. Expect 1990s minimalism to be the next revival.
Sadly we will miss from this London Fashion Week such a talent as Hussein Chalayan, whose shows were memorable for their poetic imagery. Last season his presentation closed with models shattering glass dresses with hammers.
A few weeks ago Chalayan's business became another British fashion statistic, the latest label to hit the buffers, when he went into liquidation with a debt of £250,000.
It seems a paltry amount in a business in which millions are being spent by companies such as LVMH, Prada and Gucci to acquire young and established labels. Right now Chalayan needs a white knight to come to his rescue.
Luella Bartley, the current darling of the London fashion set, decided at the 11th hour to cancel her show in London in favour of presenting her collection in Milan in two weeks' time, when she joins fellow Brits John Richmond and Antonio Berardi, who are Milan regulars.