Basso and Brooke. Image courtesy of Socialitestyle.com

Chic Today recently caught up with Miss Socialite Style herself, Sarah Young, and was given a sneaky glimpse into her London Fashion Week diary. Here’s her exclusive round-up of this past week’s fashion mayhem…

“Another season, another week of crazy scheduling, shows clashing, endless parties and utterly surreal characters.

It all started one Sunday morning when most Londoners were reading papers, munching on croissants and enjoying a rare sunny day. For the fashion industry, however, it wasn’t quite the same story. Designers, models, stylists, editors, socialites, celebs, PR’s and fashion interns were all up in full makeup and fashion get -up, ready to see the opening shows of the day.

The opening few shows included Ossie Clark’s collection featuring fluid flowing dresses, and very short tailored shorts- the 80s vibe was back with a vengeance. TopShop of course held court, and together with the brand’s usual youthful spirit, we also saw 80’s inspired jump suits, Duran Duran-esque jackets and a general cool East London vibe for the whole show, which was styled by Katie Grand.

Next stop for me was the Caroline Charles show where colour reigned supreme. Structured paper brief case bags and accessories were also in abundance.

Next stop for the filming crew of Socialite Style TV was the Heart and Design auction at Christie’s in South Kensington. Originally conceived by Oliver Heath, who was diagnosed with a serious heart condition and referred to the Royal Brompton Hospital for treatment where his life was saved by Professor John Peppe, this event combined the fashion and design communities. Some of the clothes and pieces auctioned included haute couture Roland Mouret gowns and a one-of-kind flower chair designed by Matthew Williamson. I interviewed Amanda Talbot, artistic director for Heart and Design and Ollie’s girlfriend. She said, ‘As well as auctioning items from famous and well-respected designers, we are also auctioning new design talent from fashion designers and interior designers/artists- this auction is about concentrating on the legends of our generation and the future legends of the next.’

Next stop and a quick cab ride across town to the opening of the cool new shop-on-the-block Kokon Tozai, located between Ladbroke and Westbourne Grove. Drag queens, club kids, DJ’s, East London editors, and dj’s were just some of the it crowd who enjoyed macaroons, champagne, cucumber sandwiches, and mini choco cakes. The boutique stocks cool Dutch style sneakers, chunky knits, Prince of Bel Air style t-shirts and unstructured baggy 80’s style trousers. It used to be an old butchers, so they have converted the chopping board area into a DJ booth. A true 2008 lifestyle store. Loved it!

Just as I was about to have my champagne glass re-filled, I receive a call from Radio One saying they wanted to interview me at the Eley Kishimoto show at the BFC tent.

An hour later, and after having been wowed by Eley’s bright mad-pattered tights and clashing coloured dresses and shoes, I bumped into a very black haired/goth looking Pixie Geldof and Jasmine Guinness, who was looking stunning as ever in red lipstick and a 50’s style tea dress. Like me, she was heading to the Ashley Isham show staged in the dramatic settings of the Royal Opera House. Countless of celebs, including Michelle Collins, saw bold colours, luxurious fabrics and luxurious layered floor length gowns.

After 5 more shows (!!) my Jimmy Choos were beginning to rub a little, however being the high-heel pro that I am, it was on to the ON/OFF party at the Royal Academy. With the queue going around the block, and even celebrities struggling to get in, it was evident that this was to be THE party to be seen at. Luckily I got to skip the huge queue, and quickly slipped in with a few of my model friends straight from the shows.

Greeted by champagne, scrummy canapés, celebrities galore and a VIP pamper room, we began to wander around and soak up the atmosphere when we overheard a few fashion interns gossiping in the corner that Sienna’s ex, Rhys Ifans and his band were going to shortly perform. Actor-turned-Sienna’s-ex-turned-rockstar? This I had to see. So we worked our way to the front of the stage, having nearly being knocked over by an over-sized Marc Jacobs bag held by an over enthusiastic red head rocker, where we had the perfect vantage point of Ifans. Wearing a hat, dark glasses, sneakers, skinny jeans and greasy hair, Rhys certainly looked the part and, after two songs and to my surprise, he actually sounded the part. The band were pretty damn good. The fashionista audience seemed to agree: now whether that was because it was the end of the evening and there had been a free bar for four hours I don’t know. But it seemed to be a perfect end to a perfect LFW party. Even Lady Victoria Hervy did the ‘air guitar’ dance!

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