London fashion week is back

 In a city renowned for its fashion colleges, LFW is a major showcase for young designers, who took centre-stage this year as more established brands such as Victoria Beckham and Burberry opted not to take part and punk veteran Vivienne Westwood submitted a short video.

Beckham, who has complained of the cost of putting on catwalk shows, put in a surprise appearance in the front row of the show of Supriya Lele, known for her sensual and see-through designs.

Sex appeal

There was plenty of sex appeal on display as designers reflected the current trend for mini skirts: from Westwood's punk-style tartan to pastel fake-fur micro-minis from up-and-coming Asian-American designer Chet Lo.

Some of the most revealing designs came from UK duo Poster Girl, known for tight "second skin" minidresses.In their catwalk debut, they teamed neon-coloured shapewear with fake fur coats and cropped puffer jackets, to whistles of approval from fans.

Even more minimal were lingerie-like strappy dresses from Albanian-born Nensi Dojaka, described by The Times as "sheer nothingness".