Fashion week may be have become the light source for an eye-opening number of human peacocks, but the escalating hysteria outside the venues, as street-style bloggers (barely) dodge cars in an attempt to shoot someone’s Lurex train, has created a new tribe of low-key dressers whose message is: “I’m wearing what I wear all the time, and I didn’t bankrupt myself to do it.”

This trend coincides with a feeling, increasingly voiced by retailers and even CEOs, that the sums demanded by some luxury labels have got out of hand. It’s one thing for original design and exceptional quality to cost a small fortune. But the lack of transparency in the pricing structure of mass-produced status items where exclusivity and provenance are less obvious is, many believe, contributing to sluggish sales the world over.

Another challenge for the industry is getting the right clothes to the consumer at the right time. Early September saw temperatures in New York and Europe hovering in the low 30s. In the stores: thick coats and heavy knits. Changing the fashion industry’s 50-year-old timeline is proving a lot harder than you’d think, but this week saw many trans-seasonal clothes. It’s a start.

photo: ball gowns perth

And while the world is gloomy and the uncertainty created by Brexit has designers on their mettle – 70 per cent of British fashion exports currently go to the EU – it was an amazing few days for British fashion. The creative taste-makers – Christopher Kane, J.W.Anderson, Roksanda, Simone Rocha, Mulberry and Burberry – came through with compelling, often beautiful messages and confounding talking points. Jewelled crocs, anyone?

There were plenty of other highlights. Topshop’s playful take on the Eighties was a hit. Millennials will love it. Joseph’s another affordable presence on the schedule, joined this season by A-line, Jigsaw’s premium line. Plush coats, vibrant silk blouses and great trousers – catwalk fashion is increasingly democratic.

As for the anguished debate about the new see-now-buy-now strategy that delivers pieces to customers within hours of their catwalk appearance – Burberry took the challenge head on. Every look from its Orlando-inspired show on Monday night was available in its Regent Street store the moment the show ended. Will it tarnish Burberry’s luxurious image? The crafts people working on leather toiles on the ground floor of its show venue were a clever piece of showmanship that creative director Christopher Bailey hopes will demonstrate that traditional artisanal skills can co-exist with digital revolution. 

Even Bailey concedes he doesn’t know for certain whether speeding up catwalk fashion is the right approach. 

What he does believe is that it’s right to experiment. It’s what Britain does.

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