London Fashion Week kicks off

London Fashion Week's autumn-winter collections for 2008 kicked off Sunday with a typically eclectic mix of influences and inspirations.

This year, nearly 60 designers are taking part in the official programme of shows compared with only about 15 in 1994.

Irish designer Paul Costello opened the biannual event with a show big on touch, cut, texture and history, with a nod to the world of opera and what he called the "bold, voluminous style" of the 1940s and 60s. He described it as "a modern take on ladylike dressing."

Jean-Pierre Braganza meanwhile played on straight lines with origami-shaped garments casting highly-structured futuristic silhouettes, overlapping fabrics and shades, imposing shoulder pads and rounded cuts.

The first shows suggested autumn's colours will have hints of rust, chocolate and petrol blue set off with fuchsia and scarlet.

The influence of Biba, with its silk petal-covered dresses, Gustav Klimt canvasses and the fantasy designs of Camille Rose Garcia for jewellery were in evidence.

A model takes to the catwalk wearing a creation by designer Jaeger