London kicked off the British leg of the fashion calendar on Friday, with designers eager to lift the gloom on the high street with the glitz of the catwalk through some of the edgiest shows in the season.
The dozens of British and international catwalk shows, presentations, including one by fashion darling Tom Ford, and parties cannot come soon enough for a capital city rocked by summer riots and a phone-hacking scandal that damaged confidence in the establishment.
It has produced some of fashion's biggest names but has struggled to maintain a global profile on a par with the other fashion capitals.
London Fashion Week will run until September 21, with one day dedicated to menswear.
Sales growth in the fashion market stood at 1 percent over the past 12 weeks, according to market research group Kantar Worldpanel. Recent surveys have shown UK consumer confidence and sales falling. Consumers' purchasing power is being squeezed by higher prices, muted wage growth, a lack of credit, job insecurity, a stagnant housing market, government austerity measures and fears of eventual interest rate rises.
The direct value of the fashion industry to the British economy is nearly 21 billion pounds ($32.77 billion) out of an economy worth just over a trillion pounds.
As the 15th largest British industry out of 81, it is similar in size to the food/beverage services and telecommunications industries and bigger than the wholesale and retail of automotives, sports activities, chemical manufacture and advertising/video sectors.
The fashion community has been reaching out to the public through the power of the internet and many London shows will be streamed live. The British Fashion Council will also hold question and answer sessions on the event on Twitter.
A string of celebrities are also taking their talents to the catwalk during London Fashion Week. Friday's shows began with staple names Paul Costelloe and Caroline Charles. At the weekend, all eyes will be on Julien Macdonald, Vivienne Westwood, Matthew Williamson and Issa London, whose blue crossover knee-length dress Kate Middleton wore when her engagement to Britain's Prince William was announced last November.
