The Model Formerly Known as Prince

Wow, does Matthew Williamson ever know how to stage a homecoming. The British designer, who has shown in New York the last few years, brought down the house here Wednesday when he started his show by sending twin dancers in purple dresses boogying down the runway.

Then, in the blink of an eye, out popped Prince from the front row with a microphone. He took the stage and got everyone clapping before the clothes even started to come out. The collection was, as always, awash in ethnic-looking prints that this season were vaguely African-inspired. It was a hit, which is great for us because word has it Williamson has an L.A. boutique in the works.

Kane surprises at London Fashion Week

Christopher Kane is turning out to be the biggest star to come out of London Fashion Week in a long time. His collection, presented on Monday, sounded scary in the show notes. Any mention of "panniers" generally does not bode well. But what appeared was totally unique and couldn't have been more different than his dark, velvety, medieval fall.

What he debuted was totally romantic, a kind of Edwardian country-heavy metal mix, or Roberto Cavalli meets Laura Ingalls Wilder. There were lots of feminine ruffles, light chiffons in snakeskin prints and zippers, all with a sexy spin. How genius it was to do a bike jacket in chiffon thrown over an airy snake print shirtdress with crystal buttons, and a buttery leather skirt in a new longer length with rows of ruffles falling around the hips. He even brought back the stonewashed jean ripped at the knees and cut slim over high-heeled booties reminiscent of Manolo Blahnik's famed haute workboot of a few years back, the Okla Mod. Jonathan Saunders had similar bootie styles, only color-blocked. Yee-haw!

(Photo: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

Street Fashion

  Every fashion week brings out its share of peacocks -- especially in London, where there is a particular fondness for mixing prints and eye-popping color.

One guy wore print head to toe, down to his matching shoes. Speaking of which, Londoners are some serious foot fetishists, wearing of-the-moment platforms, yes, but also chic trainers (sneakers to us). Here, Converse is the brand of choice, in Milan who knows?

London 2007: Street Fashion

Handbag heaven

Now that the British accessories meccas Smythson and Mulberry are in the same building on New Bond Street it's double trouble. I stopped into the showrooms today to see the lines, and everyone at Mulberry was abuzz about the Giles Deacon collection, designed in collaboration with the hotter-than-hot British designer who came from Bottega Veneta before starting his own clothing label.

For his spring S&M-themed runway show, which we saw in September, he designed several bags with studs so large and pronounced, they give new meaning to using your handbag as a weapon. They created an instant stir among the fashion crowd because they fit right in with the new, edgier mood and 1980s revivalism. They are available now only at Harvey Nichols in London and Colette in Paris, but come next month they will be in the brand new Mulberry store on Melrose Place in L.A.

Next Stop: London

Arrived in London over the weekend and after sleeping late, headed straight to the oyster bar at Harrods for Scottish smoked salmon and Champagne. There's a funny exhibit of electric guitars at the store, customized by different artists. There's always something going on at Harrods.

Hit the ground running on Monday morning and ran into someone from L.A. at my very second show. It was Arianne Phillips, the stylist and costume designer extraordinaire. She has been wanting to come to London Fashion Week for years and finally the time was right -- she just wrapped a movie in Santa Fe, a remake of the Glenn Ford western "3:10 to Yuma," directed by James Mangold and starring Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Peter Fonda and Gretchen Mol. The film is set in 1870, and she said she had a lot of fun building all of her costumes from scratch.