The city often referred to as the unruly child of the international fashion circuit, appears to have reached a happy medium between the conceptual and commercial side of fashion design, reports GUDRUN WILLCOCKS on the recently held, London Fashion Week

The strongest of these trends is undeniably print and pattern where Jonothan Saunders and Eley Kishimoto led the way followed closely by Clements Ribeiro and Indian label, Ashish Gupta. Saunders cleverly accentuated the female form by using compass arcs and straight lines to separate gradated, tropical colours in everything from swimwear to floor length evening gowns. Eley Kishimoto was bolder, brighter and more experimental than ever. With a nod to their recent collaboration with Ellesse, their sport-inspired collection combined everything from spots, stripes, stars and lollipop swirls to paisley and 70s retro prints - in the most graphic colours of course.

But, it was two relatively new labels that reinforced this trend, with an added injection of humour. Giles Deacon - the golden boy of Autumn/Winter 2004 - sent models, including Linda Evangelista, out in exaggerated '40s and '50s dresses fashioned from monkey, thistle and owl jacquard prints. Whilst Basso and Brooke, winners of the Fashion Fringe competition (Journalist Colin Mcdowell's quest to find the next Mcqueen, award them £100,000 and provide business advice from fashion bigwigs for a year) tied their subversive, east meets west collection together with kaleidoscopic, whimsical fabrics.

Despite the proliferation of other trends such as the '70s (Bora Aksu, Jenny Packham), the raised waist (Temperley, Camilla Staerk, Alistair Carr) and subtle deconstruction (Gardem, Preen, Jens Laugesen), the loudest message that echoed through the week was not so much a trend as an overriding mood of individuality. London has always been the city that looks straight to the street for inspiration and if the current street scene is anything to go by - uniformity and regurgitated dress codes are out. Attendees of London Fashion Week confirmed that the standard fashion editor's get-up of vintage T-shirt and battered jeans has finally disappeared. In its place comes singularity. From a tuxedo suit topped off with a party hat (yes, cardboard birthday version) to an ever so chic red ensemble - fitted red suit, red stockings and red shoes - personality is quite clearly the latest accessory du jour.